[F1grandprix]

Fifteen years ago, a growing sense of isolation due to old age prompted Kayoko Okawa, then 66, to knock on the door of a local volunteer center and timidly ask if it was possible for someone her age to start an online community for seniors.

The energetic 81-year-old is now president of the Computer Grandmas Group and says connecting this way can ease loneliness for Japan's increasing number of seniors who live alone -- and, more importantly, stave off a lonely death, with the bodies often not found for days.

I like to remember how we used to write letters - including photos, pictures, Okawa said. It was the personal touches that mattered.

Turned down 15 years ago by many groups with comments like there's no way a granny like you could do it, Okawa's tentative questions were met by friendly enthusiasm and advice from two young men, who immediately offered to help set up the network and print business cards for her.
lifeline/836455/