I see Susan and I see her beautiful smile.
I smile back up at her in spite of the tears rolling down my face. And I smile knowing that at this very moment I am not the only one looking up to the sky at this beautiful moon and seeing Susan.
Godspeed Susan!
All that survives after our death are publications and people. So look carefully after the words you write, the thoughts and publications you create, and how you love others. For these are the only things that will remain.
–Susan Niebur
I saw this post on my daughter’s Facebook and, well, my heart just sank.
Emily was one of my closest friends in high school. We were constantly causing trouble and worried our parents more than kids ever should. The last time I saw her I was 19 years old. Life and different interests got in the way. It’s so strange to know she’s not here, even though it’s been so long since I’ve seen her in person. Rest in peace, you will be missed.
First traffic fatality of the year.
She and Emily were very close all through high school and yes, they did worry their parents more than kids ever should. Their misadventures were the kind of stuff that now gives me pause when I consider stopping for a drink from a park drinking fountain and what drove me to drink and to my knees praying for them to grow up, wise up and please be safe more than I ever wanted to. Those girls did grow up and grew up into wonderful, lovely, amazing young women who made their parents very proud. I can only begin to try and imagine the pain her family must be feeling.
To the Bordallo family, to her childhood friends, my darling daughter Holly and daughter-by-friendship Tiana, I am so very sorry. Life is precious, so very precious. I wish you didn’t have to learn this truth this way.
Rest In Peace, Emily.
I like to imagine that I am the only one on the planet who does NOT have Angry Birds loaded on her smartphone…or her iTouch or her iPad. But I do have a Sponge Bob Square Pants game app loaded on my iTouch. When all else fails, my son will easily be distracted by that goofy little sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Hazel likes this app too.
Watching her enjoy this fun game, this app on this handheld computer device, I wonder if she will ever come to realize just how much her world…her Mi-ma’s world has opened up and changed all because one man dared to “think different” and wanted “to put a ding in the universe.” There is so much that we have now, that we use everyday without so much as a second thought all because of the genius of this man:
It’s amazing how much has been developed, changed and evolved in the world of computers and technology just in my adult life and it all has been influenced by or a direct result of the genius of one man. No one has not been touched or influenced by it either…not even my 3 year old grandchild. Truly he is the Thomas Alva Edison of our age.
During his commencement address to the 2005 graduates of Stanford, Jobs advised the grads to seek out work that they loved to do. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.“ This is a truth that I wholly believe, embrace and try to teach my own circus clowns…God help me, I know the potential of it coming to back to bite me on the butt is high still I stand behind it. I found my passion years ago and I see at least one of my clowns beginning to the potential to realize hers. There is no promises of riches or accolades but the satisfaction at the end of the day is there. I do hope for great success for all of my children and for my grandchildren…someone has to take care of me in the style I wish to be accustomed to someday. But at the end of the day, I want my children to know the joy, the satisfaction in doing what they love and doing it very well. That, my darlings, is where we start to make a ding in the universe…perhaps not as big as a ding as Steve Jobs but then again one never knows the impact even the smallest ding in the universe might have. If it brings joy or sparks the imagination of even one child like this sweet grand-girl of mine then they are off to a great start.
Talking to your children about the recent death of Steve Jobs? My friend, Amy, has a beautifully written bedtime fable that is a lovely, lovely way to share with them the life of the man who made a big ding in our universe.
I want to put a ding in the universe.
~Steve Jobs
Thank you for your well lived life and it’s impact on us all!
Steve Jobs
February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
For what it’s worth, here are my own thoughts a decade later.
The bright, cloudless sky that woke me early that Tuesday morning did not reveal the horror, fear and pain of that day ten years ago. What should have been a typical September day that would commence with my getting my kids up, dressed and off to school with as little as drama as possible was not to be. I knew this as I turned on the morning news to see a shot of the Empire State Building in the foreground and the World Trade Center with black smoke billowing from the North Tower. As I tried to comprehend the sketchy details the reporter was providing I found myself screaming in horror as a plane suddenly appeared and crashed into the South Tower.
It couldn’t become even more horrible.
But it could.
While my girls were getting dressed for school, I learned from catching bits of the news that the Pentagon was hit and then a plane had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania. Perhaps this wasn’t Armageddon but it was clear that the world that I knew was coming to an end.
From my home in San Jose, California, New York, Washington and Pennsylvania were far removed from me. But they really weren’t. Later I would discover my personal 9/11 connections: a cousin who had just recently returned from maternity leave and worked in the North Tower, an acquaintance from my gym who was returning home from a trip to New York City, the son of a couple from the church we attended, the husband of a lady I supported through Sidelines while she was on bedrest for a complicated pregnancy. All were brutally murdered that day. Parents lost their children. Babies will grow up never knowing their mothers and fathers. While the pain of that day for us all is palpable, nothing can compare to the pain of those who have lost friends and family among the 2996+ that day.
Why?
If we are to believe Al Qaida, this is all for the glory of Allah. Respectfully I disagree. The God of Father Abraham was not glorified over the huge loss of those created in His image that bright September morning. No, I believe that the God of Abraham we both follow has been pierced through the heart. His own creation was torturing and murdering itself.
Our lives have been forever changed. We are no longer complacent when we travel. We find ourselves dealing with the controversy and loss of what is clearly becoming the Vietnam of our children’s generation. We have become a nation that is even more divisive beyond Republicans and Democrats. One can no longer sit on the fence. We have discovered that we are either for the “right” side or against it regardless of which side that may be.
There is no more gray. No more varying shades. Our world is now stark and full of contrasts.
Regardless of our response to that day of terror, we will never forget the victims, the heroes, the family, friends and acquaintances who touched our lives. As this sad anniversary is here let it be all about them and nothing more.
