An Apple every two decades keeps the dream alive

Did you hear that Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer and, until recently, CEO of Apple, died? Last Wednesday?

Yeah. I figured the news had reached you.

I have not thought of Steve Jobs above a half-dozen times in the last thirty years. Didn't even know he was sick.

And yet his untimely demise moved me deeply.

You know I'm about to tell you why.

I got married in 1979. TG did too. In 1980 I had a baby while he watched. We had no money to speak of and practically no earthly possessions. Only our happy home.

Anyone who's ever lived that small, sweet scenario in all its aching increments knows the meaning of true joy.

And it should have been enough.

So why did I cry myself to sleep at least once a week, TG rocking me in his arms and saying shhhhhh baby, shhhh, helpless to help me?

Well first of all you might as well know, I am prone to melancholia.

And I knew there was something else -- not different, but more -- I was supposed to accomplish.

It had very little to do with money although extra cash has always been welcome in our household.

Neither did it relate to my craving a vocation apart from wife and mother because if there is anything on this earth that interests me less than being a career woman, I challenge you to name it.

At the time I did not fully realize what was wrong, but now I know.

I was being driven to create.

So what did I do? I started selling Mary Kay cosmetics and had another baby.

Now, I have been told I could sell foie gras to a duck -- my powers of persuasion are that potent -- and I sold some makeup, but somehow it didn't scratch the itch.

Naturally that treasured second baby -- for years I had wanted to create a little girl named Audrey -- took my mind off my troubles for a good while.

But when the dust settled I was still searching for the answer. I decided to hire myself out as a freelance secretary working from home. TG bought me an Olivetti Praxis electric typewriter and in time I secured a few clients.

Things were going well. I could tap away at the kitchen table while the babies slept and stow my typewriter at mealtimes. I made pin money which usually I blew on new outfits, clothes horse that I am, or stuff for the house. Being Suzy Homemaker's red-headed stepchild comes with certain responsibilities.

In 1983, around the time Audrey was born, my paternal grandmother died. Because my father had been an only child and my grandmother was a widow, her estate was divided equally among his four children.

In 1984 I got my six-thousand-dollar inheritance and promptly spent half of it on an Apple IIe DuoDisk -- the kind with a green screen and floppies bigger than a MacBook Air -- and a dot matrix printer. Togther the two machines took up my entire kitchen table and made some of the strangest, most exotic bleeps, blurps and buzzes.

I figured I'd arrived.

Quickly I put together a makeshift desk in our downstairs TV room by buying a hollow door for the top and letting a pair of two-drawer filing cabinets serve as supports.

It gave me a surface for my massive equipment -- which looked so sleek and modern to my wondering eye -- and also an out-of-the-way space in which to work.

I gained more clients and in time I turned my attention exclusively to writing resumes and cover letters. I did that for the next six years, eventually building up an impressive client base and making pretty good money into the bargain.

The Apple IIe was replaced around 1990 by an IBM clone and eventually I supplanted the busy dot matrix with an office-quality HP laser printer. Everything got quieter.

In 1992, after we moved to Tennessee and I realized people there were loath to pay me seventy-five dollars to write a one-page resume, as they had been more than willing to do in the greater Chicagoland area, I went to work as a legal secretary.

Not exactly a step in the right direction if I do say so myself. But needs must.

Eventually I got rid of my Buick-sized outdated computer equipment and bought a Compaq Presario that the whole family used. In time it died a natural death.

In early 2003 I invested in a Dell desktop -- along with a lot of other high-tech equipment, all of which I now would like to give a watery grave at the bottom of Lake Murray -- and became a court reporter.

By late 2008 the Dell was listing near to the scuppers and I was wringing my hands in frustration as it grew less competent by the day. In addition to court reporting, by then I was doing my real work: blogging and writing.

A year went by and the situation became so dire, I threatened to quit my job and never go near a computer again. I could not endure the laborious process of waiting for the machine to think about whether it was in the mood to obey a simple command. I think it had a virus.

A few of you remember this ecstatic blog post from late December 2009. The one where I told you my family had pooled their racehorses and bought Mama an iMac for Christmas.

Talk about your tears of joy. I practically fainted when Andrew ripped the paper from the box -- Yes! Andrew opened my present! -- and then I broke down when I realized what they'd done.

Within a few minutes we were all crying. I know theirs were tears of relief that they wouldn't have to hear me gripe anymore. At least not about my computer. Because y'all, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Last year Andrew gave me an iPod and it soon became one of my favorite things. And you know my granddaughter, Allissa? The one who's three and a half? Ask her what she wants for Christmas.

"A iPod Touch."

She uses her mother's iPod Touch to enjoy Tom & Jerry episodes on YouTube. You should see her swipe that screen, find the cartoon she wants, tap it, then hold the tiny device just so in order to watch.

At three! What will it be at four, I wonder?

Everybody's wee-weed up this week because Randall Stross of The New York Times compared the life and achievements of Steve Jobs to that of Thomas Edison.

Whatever. I cannot think of a single person to whom one could honestly compare Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison individually, much less to one another. They're like snowflakes -- hello, no two alike -- and besides, all comparisons are odious.

I guess I could have told this story more succinctly but you know me: why use fifty words when five thousand will do?

What I want to say is that I am in awe of Mr. Jobs's innovations and his great spirit of entrepreneurship because not once but twice, his incomparable vision changed my life in tangible ways.

My Apple IIe opened a door for me like nothing else could have. My iMac represents those I love most seeing me for what I am: a writer. A person who creates with words.

I still cry a lot, but never because I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. There's no app for the reasons I weep.

Meanwhile I have yet to acquire either an iPhone 4 or an iPad 2. I want both. Christmas is right around the corner. Kids, make it easy on yourselves! Start with the phone.

><><><><>++++<><><><><

We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.

~Steve Jobs~

Comments

[Sue the Hobbit]

i don't own a single Apple anything, but I felt sad watching Steve J. as he declined. are the photos from your NY trip? Great clarity in those shots.

[Jennifer]

@Hobbit ... well don't buy anything Apple then, because afterwards nothing else will ever do. So addictive it's crazy good. So great for working with photos. Yes, I took those pictures last May at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue NYC, in front of the Plaza Hotel. My camera was loving the quality of light and I am fascinated by that glass cube. BTW are you home?

[Mari]

WooHoo! I can comment again! (It's been hard on me having to read your posts and then be quiet) :)
I hadn't heard Steve Jobs was sick either, so news of his death was a surprise. I think he's changed all of our lives. I did enjoy reading your history with computers. Great pictures too!

[Debbie]

Great images and a great story of your evolution.

I'm on my second iPod, hubby is on this third I think. He keeps leaving them in his pants pocket and I keep washing them. Amazingly, once they dry out, they are just as good as new. We have bought our daughter an iPod, also our grandson (two of them).

We've had just about every kind of computer from Texas Instrument, the first (oh gosh, I can't remember the name now), Compaq, Dell, you name it.

Hubby bought a Mac book pro (I think), he will never buy another PC, he says the Macs are so simple and easy to use. His table-top computer just died, so he ordered another Apple product, not sure which model.

Our grandson is getting a desk-top Apple/Mac for Christmas. I keep hoping this laptop I use will finally completely croak, then I can get my own Mac Book Pro

(I was a legal secretary for years in Memphis. I too get weepy now and then, usually no real reason. I'm still looking for what I'm supposed to do in this world. I guess I will croak before I find out).

[irene]

Wonderful images, and a great tribute.

[Donna M.]

You put together, yet another, wonderful post! And I had to laugh about the fifty words versus five thousand! Oh, I understand so well since we met! hahaha!!! Jim and I are late to the Apple party, but we made the switch this year and haven't regretted it a bit. I have a computer that actually does what I ask it to do! And it is glorious that I don't have to take care of dozens of program and virus protection updates every week! Steve Jobs was a billionaire and earned every penny because he brought innovative products to the marketplace that were useful, productive, and FUN! Think of how many lives have been enriched because of his visions and hard work! Amazing.

I sure do hope that you get a new Apple product under the Christmas tree this year!

[Donna M.]

Oh, yes! And I forgot to mention how much I loved the series of photos in this post! LOVE 'em!!!!!!!!!!