Steve Jobs, visionary

So many people today are remembering and celebrating the life of Steve Jobs, the creative genius behind Apple, including me. My very first computer that I bought was an Apple Macintosh. It was 1995 and it looked like a pizza box. I was so thrilled to have it as I had been using nothing but Apple in college. I first worked on an Apple SE and I think it had like a 40 mb hard drive, a little black and white screen. I've now got an imac and a MacBook and still wouldn't want any other computer other than a Mac. I've not kept up with technology other than that but if I had the money, I'd have an iphone, ipad and an ipod and all things Apple.

It is sad to lose such an innovative mind in his prime. Imagine what was to come! It's also sad that in is this day and age that cancer is still winning. Strangely enough, I was talking to my dad on the phone when I looked up at the TV and saw that Steve Jobs had died, just as my dad informed me that his brother and my Uncle found out he has lung cancer. His biopsy was today, so fingers crossed and prayers said. This month marks 2 years for my mother dying of melanoma cancer... hard to believe but still as fresh as yesterday. I worry about my uncle, I worry about my dad. Cancer still seems like a death sentence to me and chips away at the souls of the family.

We are so lucky to be living in such exciting times technology wise. Just think about how much Steve Jobs have contributed to our lives. Made our lives better, easier and just more fun. What an amazing man and such an inspiration. How fortunate for our world to have had him. What a legacy he has left, a legacy that I am grateful for. Truly he was a great man. Thank you Steve Jobs...

Where were you?

Burnt into my memory with only a handful of days is September 11th... or more correctly 911. I was at work and someone must have heard about a plane crash in New York and turned on the only TV which was a small 13" in the conference room of our ad agency. We all watched in horror as we discovered it hit the World Trade Center and then as some of us continued to watch, we actually saw the next plane hit. I remember crying at work, unable to stop the steady stream of tears even though I did not know anyone there. Shortly after, we learn of the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

I worked with my dad and we watched together and as I watched him watch the coverage I felt such awe and admiration for him. He was telling us younger crowd how this will affect our lives for the rest of our lives. He was right. He is a history buff and also had been drafted into the Vietnam War when I was very small. He was a lucky one and got stationed at the Pentagon. As it turns out, his office was not far at all from the area that was hit and he told me that he may have even been affected by the blast if it had happened while he served.

While I had work to do that day, we all were constantly in that room checking on the reports. I did watch it for about 2 hours at the beginning and still remember Matt Lauer and Katie Couric reporting tearfully and the others from the Today Show.

I often think of the people who lost their lives that day and their loved ones that lived. Children who died, parents, friends co-workers, neighbors. I wonder how their lives are now, nine years later. How hero's were made that day. How we all were rudely reminded that the US is very much a hated country by many and how they despise our way of life. How lucky we all are that there are men and women who defend that way of life. I salute the defenders and am thankful to them and the hero's. I thank them for their service. I certainly have a more solemn and serious feeling yet am proud when I hear the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance now. I think we all became patriotic after that faithful day. Do you remember the terrorist threat levels that was always on the Nightly News... red, yellow, orange... and how all the news casts showed Smalltown, USA with all the flags and banners for months after, even years. It does seem the patriotism has waned some. I hope and pray we all won't get that jolt again.

Remember. Never forget.

God Bless America.