Steve Jobs, We Thank You
After dinner it’s my 4-year-old’s TV time and when I turned it on, I read the headline on CNN: Apple’s Steve Jobs Dies.
Logan loves is iTouch.
“Wow!” I say.
“What is it Mommy?”
I wonder if I should tell him. We’ve already had many conversations about death, so why not?
“Steve Jobs died.”
“Who’s that?”
“Oh.” We both sit silently. He’s watching me and I’m watching CNN, though I can almost hear the wheels in his head churning.
“Why did he die?”
Hmm. Should I tell him?
“He was sick.”
“How?”
Why do these kids ask so many questions?
“He had cancer.”
“What’s that?”
I turn and look hard at my son and his sweet innocence. Imagine not knowing what cancer is. What a wonderful luxury that is. (One that I inadvertently spoiled this evening.) I smile, wrap my arms around him and say: “It’s a really yucky disease.”
“Oh.”
We watch a few minutes of Job’s visionary speech at Stanford. Then Logan raised his arm and waved at the TV: “Thank you for making my phone.”
Jobs continues to speak: “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Yes, Steve Jobs, thank you.
Logan is very sweet!
#cancersucks
Thanks, he is a sweetie. And you’re right cancer does suck. I saw a tweet earlier about a 13 year old boy’s reaction to Steve Jobs’ death. He was surprised especially since Jobs could afford the best doctors. It seemed like it gave him his first glimpse in just how awful cancer can be.
Trusting that it will all work out okay is sometimes the best thing..we do have to trust in something – thank you for this!
Yes, trusting that it will all work out is key. It’s so hard, but it’s essential to stay focused on what’s important. 🙂
This was so sweet. I agree, thank you for my phone. And so much more…
“And so much more” is on point. 🙂
Just think of how many lives that man touched…it really is quite amazing!
Your son looks so cute holding his phone.
Thanks, he’s a cutie because he’s a handful. I think it’s like an evolution thing, sometimes those big brown eyes are the only thing that keeps me from going bonkers. It’s unimaginable how many lives Steve Jobs touched. It’s more than billions. Isn’t that something?
It is a yucky disease. Well put!
Thanks, I was a little stumped for a moment. How do you explain cancer to a toddler? “Yucky” seemed to suffice.
So sweet to see the innocence of our kids as they continue to learn about life (and death).
This was an amazing speech given by Job’s in 2005 that I too shared via Facebook the day of his death. What a great man…
Yes, what a great man indeed and what lessons we can learn from him. Also with all that he accomplished he said that having kids was “10,000 times better than anything I’ve ever done.” Cool, huh?
How touching that even in his limited understanding, your baby boy stopped to say thank you! Such a sweet post! God bless the Jobs’ family and friends.
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, my little guy is a softie and I love how empathetic kids can be. I do feel for his family because while the world is sad about losing a great innovator, they’re going through the unimaginable grief of losing a husband, dad and best friend.