Joy Would Like a Word With You

Her name is Joy. And I mean that in every possible way.

She’s 90 years old. She lives fully, laughs easily, and has never once made getting older look small. But macular degeneration had been quietly taking something from her — not her spirit, but her independence. The ability to read a menu at a restaurant without asking someone to read it for her. To scan a label at the market on her own. Those small, private moments of self-sufficiency that most of us don’t even think about.

Last week she got her first pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

She put them on. They read things to her. And she turned to me and said six words I won’t forget:

“It gave me my independence back.”

I’ve spent years talking about technology. Teaching it. Advocating for it. Telling women that it doesn’t have to be scary. But my 90-year-old mother just taught me something I didn’t know I needed to hear.

She wasn’t afraid. She didn’t say “I’m too old for this.” She didn’t ask whether she’d be able to figure it out. She just said — what does this tool do, and can it help me?

And then — because that’s exactly who Joy is — she asked me to help her order a second pair. One for home. One for her purse.

She’s not trying technology. She’s living with it now.

That’s it. That’s the whole lesson.

Her name is Joy. She’s my mom. And I couldn’t be more proud.

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