Today I had the privilege of helping an elderly lady at work create presentation for a photography class that she is taking. Meeting her and listening to her talk about her photos was quite an experience.

This woman used to be a nurse when she was younger and decided to take some courses at the University that sparked her interest. The class she is taking this semester is a photography class. She needed help getting her digital images loaded into a presentation and help using the software.

This woman said that today’s technology is changing too fast for her. She was frustrated that everything has changed since she used Powerpoint ten years ago.

As we went through all of her photo’s she was explaining to me the significance of each photo and how each photo fits into the theme of the presentation. Normally I am very rushed at work, but it was very refreshing to be able to sit there with her and listen to her tell her stories about these photos without having to rush off to the next task. I spent almost two hours helping her as we added some word art and audio to play during the presentation which was entitled, My Beat.

It has been a while since I have used Powerpoint so my skills are not as sharp as they once were. Despite this, to her I was a computer genius.

After we finished the presentation, she was organizing her things and she gave me a bottle of water as a thank you. She kept thanking me telling me how grateful she was that I took the time to help her. I welcomed her back for help anytime and we tentatively set up time this summer so she can learn how to do the presentations on her own.

Helping people like this is one of my favorite parts of my job. Feeling the genuine appreciation she had was uplifting. Working with her made me realize that I could afford to slow down sometimes. I always move from one thing to the other without really taking the time to appreciate what I have, what I know and the people I am around.

At the end of the day this woman walked away with a polished presentation to give to her class and I walked away with a reality check and a greater appreciation of slowing down and enjoying life.

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This was the track that she carefully selected to play during her presentation. I think it speaks volumes as to who she is and the lesson she taught me.

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