Becoming a web developer at 66 years old (for my nonprofit)

Yes, I learned Javascript, React, and Node.js to develop a progressive web app as the cornerstone of a nonprofit I was starting. The development effort began 1.5 years ago, and the project has been challenging at many levels. With passion and commitment, I have overcome many obstacles.

I hadn’t written code in many years, and I had never done any front-end development. I have absolutely no design skills. I’m telling you my favorite colors are black and white, and I love Courier font. You get the idea: I can’t design my way out of a paper bag. So why did I do this? And how did I do it?

The answer to the “why” question is in this video:

With every ounce of my being, I felt that I wanted to do something to honor my grandson, who passed away at age 11 from a fatal brain tumor diagnosed just ten months before his passing. David Kessler wrote an entire book entitled “Finding Meaning,” where he eloquently describes how grief can sometimes be mitigated by finding meaning in what we’ve lost. I was determined to dedicate my energy and talents toward this goal.

After carefully considering various possible projects, I decided to start a project focused on sibling loss. My grandson Hayden was a twin, so his sister Brenna would be growing up without her sibling. I understood this all too well since my then 14-year-old sister Robin died when I was 12 (just one year older than Brenna) back in 1967. This single event has affected me and my life’s trajectory the most. Sibling loss is often misunderstood. The sibling relationship never goes away; the relationship continues for the living sibling indefinitely. Honoring and memorializing that relationship was what I envisioned as the goal for my non-profit, which I aptly named “Sibs Forever.”

This video shows some of the artifacts I have kept for 55+ years, centered around Robin and me. I’ve moved them from place to place and treasure them as much today as I did when I carried them out of our childhood home when I first left for college. These relics include pictures, writings, cards, yearbooks, and newspaper clippings.

I began my non-profit adventure by purchasing the domain sibsforever.org and completing the paperwork for Sibs Forever to become an Arizona nonprofit (later to become a registered 501(c)(3)). I had a sketchy vision of what this project might be but absolutely no idea where to start, what technologies to use, or how to move this vision forward. I had no one to ask and no one to help me.

I decided to take some technical classes and learn enough to choose frameworks and technologies that were modern, responsive, well-supported, and appropriate for this project. I started with a google search, leading me to technical courses at Udemy. I enrolled in this class:

• The Complete Web Development Bootcamp (Dr. Angela Lu)

It introduced web development fundamentals, including some HTML 5, CSS, and javascript. It covered wireframe tools plus logo- and favicon makers. The complete syllabus from October 2020 is at https://myeport.com/webclass. The class was dated, though, teaching jquery and bootstrap (which I believed were legacy technologies), and the javascript examples were from previous years. After completing 35% of this class, I pivoted to a different (yet similar) course:

• The Complete Web Developer: Zero to Mastery (Andrei Neagoie)

These kinds of classes are everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-style classes. They cover a lot of material with varying levels of depth. I liked Andrei’s teaching style and his unbridled enthusiasm, but the class moved from topic to topic too quickly for my taste. I completed about half of this class before switching to more focused classes. As I took these classes, I discovered my learning style and whether I picked things up as quickly as I did in my younger years. So what is my learning style now that I am Medicare eligible?

I concluded that I am just as bright as I ever was (whew). But I’m not as quick, and my memory is not as good. I had to take copious notes and review them more often to be successful. To completely understand and master the concepts, I needed to do every exercise and give myself the time required to complete it. I am more patient than I used to be and never get frustrated. I didn’t doubt I would be successful, but I had no idea how long it would take.

I tentatively decided to build sibsforever.org as a single-page app (SPA) using React and Bulma CSS on the front end, Node.js, and PostgreSQL on the backend. So, I enrolled in the following Udemy classes to learn enough to create a development environment and start the software development process:

• Javascript, The Advanced Concepts (Andrei Neagoie)
• Master Bulma CSS Framework (After I completed about 25% of this class, I realized I could learn Bulma without taking a class since the online documentation was complete and there were no deep concepts to master)
• Modern React with Redux (Stephen Grider)
• Node with React: Full Stack Web Development (Stephen Grider). This class best prepared me for the development work to come.
• Node.JS, Advanced Concepts (Stephen Grider)

Stephen Grider's Full Stack Web Development class prepared me to set up a development environment on my laptop. I plan to write a separate article that focuses more on the technical side of sibsforever.org: the application architecture, the infrastructure layout (on AWS), including serverless components, and security (I focused on data privacy within sibsforever.org; visibility is configurable at every level, even individual pictures and videos have their own visibility settings). I tried hard to ‘practice what I preach’ regarding the Information Security aspects of sibsforever.org.

Here are a few things I learned along the way:

• Get feedback as early and as often as possible. I was lucky to have my daughter Bree (Hayden’s mother) as a continuous reviewer. I implemented every one of her suggestions, and the application improved each time I did. I also had my niece Brenda, a SibsForever sib, give me her perspective, which proved invaluable. I ultimately ended up hiring a designer to help with the front page design, including the introductory video (seen at https://sibsforever.org)
• There are a lot of abandoned and poorly supported npm packages for React. Only use supported packages used by an active community. Look at the projects’ issues list to determine if reported bugs are quickly fixed. I ended up having to replace a few packages, unfortunately. Also, plan time to upgrade packages. During the development of sibsforever.org, several packages I used came out with major releases (with breaking changes). I now have a list of packages that need to be upgraded, and it will take time to integrate and test. It’s crucial to remain current to avoid becoming a legacy application.
• Being a solo player is difficult. There is much more to creating a successful non-profit than the technical pieces. How do I find a community of users? I’ve used social media with some success. I’m currently becoming active in sibling grief groups and reaching out to people directly. I’ve contacted other non-profits requesting the sibsforever.org service listed as a resource, but the few responses have not been positive. I’m currently looking for more ways to outreach and have more visibility.
• SibsForever is a long-term project that requires patience, commitment, and diligence. I have unlimited patience and fierce dedication, so there are no issues related to those. My definition of success can be measured by the number of users who derive comfort from interacting with sibsforever.org.
• Being older is not necessarily a liability. It may take me longer, but there is no doubt that in the long term, sibsforever.org will become a success by the metric described above.