I uploaded a practice blog today, so I could fiddle with a template and see what things could happen. I managed to shut it down . . . but I got it up and going again thanks to what I learned last night. Being a member of that generation which did not grow up with computers and the Internet, I find it tricky delving in to all this stuff. That’s okay. And at least there isn’t a test on it in the morning. There is just so much to be learned, however.  Having a live-in tutor wouldn’t be bad.

In 2000, my grandson Cameron was playing Nintendo and he would come to Quentin, his uncle, for help when he got stuck.  We would be sitting in the big room over the garage with the six windows – Mother, Quentin, myself – and my father, who was ill. Quentin spent a lot of time working a jigsaw puzzle; Mother read and did whatever she could to help my dad be more comfortable. I don’t know what I did.

Ever so often, we would hear, “Uncle, Uncle . . . ” spoken all so softly outside the door.  The pleas for help were closer than “ever so often” now that I remember it more clearly. Quentin would always help, although sometimes I would see his shoulders sag at the first soft syllable.

He would get Cameron over the hump and on the way to getting whatever the goal was accomplished; he once mentioned that he didn’t want to do it all for him and not leave any of the fun. That reminded me of when he was quite young and he said, “Barbara (Egan) is really nice.” When I asked him why he thought so, he told me that a lot of times when you asked someone to “start” the tab on a cola can, they would just go ahead and open it, but Barbara would pry it a little from the can lid and allow the younger kid to get the fun of the fizz.

Learning and teaching :  it’s pretty much a satisfying thing.