81-year-old Sis Polin of Shoreline avidly uses her computer to widen her world. She is a member of several different social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Ravelry.
Sis’s morning routine includes checking in with family and friends on Facebook to see what her grandchildren are up to. She particularly enjoys the sharing of family photographs – especially her new great-grandchild.
Sis also connects to her social causes through Facebook and the web. Two in particular are Youth Care (www.youthcare.org), which serves homeless kids, and the Women’s Funding Alliance (www.wfalliance.org), which focuses on women’s causes and recently on efforts to combat sex trafficking of girls. She is an active volunteer for Youth Care; making and serving meals at the Orion Center in downtown Seattle, knitting hats for the kids, teaching 14 to17-year-old homeless kids to knit, and recently collecting Hats, Underwear, Gloves and Socks for the “HUGS” program.
An obsessive knitter, Sis connects to others who share her interest around the world on Ravelry.com. Ravelry.com is an online community that has linked up Sis with knitters as far away as England and Australia. She also uses the Internet to research and document her family genealogy on Geni.com
Sis’s daughter and son-in-law are international endurance horseback riders. On Saturday, October 8, they raced in the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile, 24-hour, rugged ride in the Sierra Mountains of California. Sis tracked them on teviscup.org which let her know when they arrived at each check point, and what position they were in.
Sis is sold on reaching out via the web, staying in touch and being better informed. “It opens up a whole new world for you,” she says.
This article appeared in the January 2012 issue of Northwest Prime Time, the Puget Sound region’s monthly publication celebrating life after 50. For more information, visit www.NorthwestPrimeTime.com
Photo Caption: Sis Polin was part of a recent event to help Washington seniors “Get Connected” with social media, sponsored by AARP and Microsoft. Information from the event, including tip-sheets and how-to-guides, will soon be available at www.aarp.org/wa
