Do You 'Steve Jobs It'?

I am not surprised by the outpouring of concern when it was announced last night that Steve Jobs had passed away. However, I have been surprised by how much the death of Steve Jobs has made me feel sad, and I'm not even one of the Apple devotees. The only Apple product I have is an iPad2, which I love by the way! Regardless of whether I owned his products, he was obviously a brillant man who knew how to create technologies that appealed to the masses.

I saw this posting on twitter this morning and thought it was worth reposting here. I'll be curious to hear what you think and whether you 'Steve Jobs It': Do You 'Steve Jobs It'?

10 years of Missing You

Wednesday marked 10 years that my mother has been dead. I can't believe it has been that long. What a remarkable woman she was! She took care of my father and grandmother for many years, when they were bedridden from strokes. She always managed to remain positive, even when she was diagnosed with cancer.

I so wish that she was here to see Callen grow into the phenomenal young woman that she is. There is so much that she could have taught me about having a headstrong daughter : ).

There are a 1000 things that I wish I had asked her before she died. I hope others who read this will ask those questions of their loved ones before they die. And, record them on video and audio so that your children will get a sense of who they are, more than they can just get from pictures.

Here's to my mother - a woman who gave me the world and will always inspire me!

12 Years on the 12th

Bo and I were married 12 years ago Sunday. It is hard to believe it has been that long in some ways, but in others it feels like it should be much longer. For instance, we've lived in 4 different locales since we were married. When first married we lived in Fuquay-Varina, NC, then Boston, Baltimore, and now Birmingham. I wonder what the next 'B' city will be . . .

We've also lost many family members in the past 12 years. Bo's father died, along with two of Bo's old friends. Then both my parents died in 2000. We've both lost aunts and uncles during this time period too. It seems we've lost a lot of family and friends during such a short time period!

Luckily, we've also had a great joy during this time -- the birth of our daughter. She continues to bring us more joy than we ever imagined possible.

I hope the next 12 years will bring us many more joys and fewer sad times. . .

Please Come to Boston ...

It has been 9 years since Bo and I moved from Boston. We lived in Arlington (a suburb just outside Boston) for 1.5 years while I did my post doc. I've always liked this Dave Loggins song; thought I'd put a YouTube link to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PX5t9VJweQ.

I go to Boston this week for a conference. While I'm looking forward to going to the conference, seeing old friends, and being back in Boston, I'm finding that it is stirring up a lot of memories in me. You see, it was 10 years ago in late July when my mother was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Bo and I were just getting ready to move to Baltimore; in fact, he was already there having started a new job a few weeks before we were to officially move there.

I still remember the call that evening from one of my aunts; I knew something must have been wrong because she never called me. We always heard about what was going on with each other through my mother, and we visited when I was home in NC. She called and said my mother was in the hospital and they thought she had cancer. I remember feeling like a vice was gripping my heart when she said those words.

My mother and I were very close; before we moved to Boston we talked on the phone about every day and I'd often see she and my father several times a week. My mother took care of my father who had been bedridden from a series of strokes.

I flew home the next day and went straight to the hospital. I remember thinking that this couldn't be happening. My father, who was in such poor health, should be the one in the hospital. Not my mother, the woman who had spent her life caring for other people... The next months went by in a blur with us trying to help take care of my parents from afar, coordinating efforts by others, and trying to spend as much time with my parents as is possible when 2 people have just started new jobs. How I wish I'd taken some sort of leave that year, but with a new job in academia I was oblivious as to that even being an option.

After so bravely battling cancer, my dear mother passed away less than 8 months later. While I know that at the time taking the post doc was a good thing for me to do, and it was a good experience for Bo and I to live in Boston during that time, I can't help thinking that I spent the last 2 years of my mother's life living 13 hours away and only getting to see her a few times per year. It still makes me sad to this day thinking about it.

I encourage you all to enjoy the moments you have with your loved ones; you never know when you won't have those opportunities . . .