My mother was the best. She loved all her 4 kids, but she seemed to love me extra. Some of my happiest memories are from before I started school, being at home with her and listening to Frank Sinatra records together (I still remember a lot of the lyrics now, more than 40 years later). She was so patient and at the same time always made sure that I learned right from wrong. Then we kind of "lost" her for a number of years, she was still a wonderful person but for survival she was relying too much on old-style anti-depressants and alcohol. Then when I was about 16 she got a job for the sake of her own sanity, and she started to realize how screwed up our family was. She got divorced, no longer needed the anti-depressants and alcohol, and I got my mum back. And then I lost her to cancer 18 years ago. I still miss her every day.
My first real job was as a trainee computer programmer. I got it based on how I did on an aptitude test, I had never even used a computer when I started out. I struggled and was treated like an idiot by people at the company where I got my first job. The manager was going to get rid of me. One of the senior technical guys basically told the manager that the reason I was struggling was because of the wankers he was assigning me to work with. He set out to prove the manager wrong, basically came out of the manager's office and told me that I was working with him. He would sit down with me every day and give me assignments, get out the big sheets of old-fashioned computer paper and explain how things worked in detail and made sure that I understood. Within a year or so I was the "go to" guy when my friend wasn't around, and guys with many years more experience and much bigger salaries were coming to me for help. I'd probably have spent the last 25 years cleaning toilets if it wasn't for that guy.
My first girlfriend was the smartest person I have ever known. She seemed to be able to look deep inside me and she was able to teach me how to be in a relationship with someone and how to come to terms with my emotions. Most people I knew at the time thought that she was evil and that it would all end in disaster and that I was making a huge mistake getting involved with her. But I just instinctively knew that however things ended up, it would all have been worthwhile. And it was.
If I can make as much of a difference in one or two people's lives as these people made in mine, then my life will have meant something.
My first real job was as a trainee computer programmer. I got it based on how I did on an aptitude test, I had never even used a computer when I started out. I struggled and was treated like an idiot by people at the company where I got my first job. The manager was going to get rid of me. One of the senior technical guys basically told the manager that the reason I was struggling was because of the wankers he was assigning me to work with. He set out to prove the manager wrong, basically came out of the manager's office and told me that I was working with him. He would sit down with me every day and give me assignments, get out the big sheets of old-fashioned computer paper and explain how things worked in detail and made sure that I understood. Within a year or so I was the "go to" guy when my friend wasn't around, and guys with many years more experience and much bigger salaries were coming to me for help. I'd probably have spent the last 25 years cleaning toilets if it wasn't for that guy.
My first girlfriend was the smartest person I have ever known. She seemed to be able to look deep inside me and she was able to teach me how to be in a relationship with someone and how to come to terms with my emotions. Most people I knew at the time thought that she was evil and that it would all end in disaster and that I was making a huge mistake getting involved with her. But I just instinctively knew that however things ended up, it would all have been worthwhile. And it was.
If I can make as much of a difference in one or two people's lives as these people made in mine, then my life will have meant something.
