Grilled Cheese with an Iron

Shura was 89. She avoided microwave ovens.

So, to make a grilled cheese, she had her own method. She wrapped the bread and cheese in tinfoil. Then she brought out her iron.

Teenagers filmed her. The video went up on YouTube. And it spread across the web.

The scene took place in a Toronto seniors' residence. You can see it in the documentary Cyber-Seniors, directed by Saffron Cassaday and released in 2014.

It all began in 2009, with her two younger sisters, Kascha and Macaulee. They were in high school. They had to volunteer to graduate.

Their idea came from their own family. Thanks to Skype, their grandparents could see a cousin who lived in Ireland. They even attended his piano recitals, from afar.

The two sisters wrote a little training manual. They recruited friends. Twice a week, they went to seniors' residences.

Their students were often in their 80s or 90s. They learned email, Facebook, Skype, YouTube, and even online banking.

Great-grandparents talked with their great-grandchildren, for the first time.

The lessons did not always go one way. In the film, Barbara, 90, asks a young mentor whether she knows a famous choral work. When the girl doesn't, Barbara tells her bluntly that she is uneducated about music.

Another mentor says they no longer see these seniors as old people, just as regular people.

When we learn together, each of us becomes the other's teacher.

The project grew. In 2013, a Cyber-Seniors campaign targeted 82 cities in North America. Today, it is a non-profit. It is powered by high school and university volunteers. Its mission: digital equality, and connecting generations through technology.

During the pandemic, Kascha Cassaday saw it clearly: social isolation can do a lot of harm.

Macaulee Cassaday sums up what a screen can offer seniors:

A screen does not replace a visit. But held out by a young hand, it can reopen the door to the "we."