Veronica “Vera” Rapp has 76 friends on Facebook, Skypes with family members, plays games like Hangman Word and Word Mix Lite, takes “selfies” and has more in her Dropbox than an 18-year-old. That’s not so unusual in this day and age – except that Rapp is 90 years old. The Hilton East resident takes to the internet like a fish to water.
“I like that I can connect with people all over and that’s what keeps me going,” she said. “I’m surrounded by the sick and elderly, and I’m glad that I’m well enough to connect with the outside world.”
Rapp first became interested in computers when she was living with her daughter, Kathi Bucktooth, in Chili. “I learned a lot from her,” she said. After a couple of falls and two months in the hospital due to a broken femur, Rapp came to live at Hilton East in 2009. “I would sign up to use the computers here and play games, like Solitaire, but the machines were so slow!” she said.
So Rapp told her son, Steven Letter, who lives in Kent, Washington, and this past Christmas he gave her a Samsung tablet that she carries around with her in a bright pink case. My son calls me a “hip grandma,” she said.
Rapp recently learned how to download music and is particularly fond of Bing Crosby hits, like “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” Her only frustration is when the personal assistant voice comes up. “It makes me so nervous!” she said.
Learning new technology is just one example of how Rapp has adapted to life changes throughout her 90 years. One of 10 children, Rapp’s life hasn’t been easy much of the time. She left Ben Franklin High School, which was located on Norton Street in Rochester, before graduating in order to take a job at Loblaws grocery store. When her mother told her that there wasn’t enough money and she needed to find more work, Rapp went to work on the production line at Eastman Kodak, where she stayed for two years before marrying Robert Letter.
The couple worked a farm in East Avon and then another farm in East Bethany before buying the Batavia Motel, which they sold in 1972. After her husband died, she renovated a home in Bergen where she finished raising her children. She even went back to school to earn her GED. Hard work was a way of life for Rapp.
“She is such an upbeat person and despite many losses, rarely has a negative word,” writes her friend Jennifer Lake, who used to work as a nurse at Hilton East. “She plays Scrabble and takes walks on the grounds and has told me that she feels happier than ever sometimes.”
The mother of six, grandmother of seven, great-grandmother of seven and friend to many, Rapp has people all over that she keeps in touch with through email, Facebook® and Skype®. “I’m very busy so I usually only have time after lunch and at night before bed,” she said.
Photo by Grace Griffee
