Set up a Presto for them and they can receive a daily email from you to brighten their day, without an internet connection. Attach a picture of you waving hello, or of any important event they have to miss. Then when you call it makes talking about the day or event even more special.

For about $100 - $130 you can buy the Presto. It’s basically an easy-to-use printer that receives email up to five different times a day, at times that you control. You set up the account online, set the preferences, and set up payment for the service at a cost of only about $10 a month. Plug in the Presto, plug their phone line to it, and it’s ready to go. Paper and ink are included and can be monitored on-line. Both are easy to replace when needed. No need to worry about spam, either, since you have to specifically set people up to allow them to send to the account. Information cards are also provided that contain access numbers. Your loved one can hand them out to other friends/family members to set themselves up, so they don’t have to wait for you to do it for them.

Go to www.Presto.com and check it out. As a Hospice volunteer I made friends with a lovely lady whose husband had passed away while under Hospice care. Her grown children and grandchildren were connected to the internet, but this lady had no way to receive emails, and no way to set up an internet connection. I hooked her up with one of these and it’s been working great for three months. I’ve yet to have to change the ink. I was also able to set her up to receive ‘Newsstand’ items such as a weekly article from Andy Rooney and daily gossip article from Liz Smith.

Presto – it was just that easy.