One thing you learn when your parents die, the people whose goals and dreams you studied for your formative years, is that our goals and dreams don't matter much. #
The thing that matters is that my mother made a quilt for me because she wanted me to have it after she was gone. That she walked my brother to school one day 50 years ago and someone took a picture so I can put it on the wall of my living room today. She planted trees on her street, trees that wouldn't give shade until she was long-gone. #
That my father wrote about what he learned about using a computer to organize his work, with software I had written. The time after I was home from the hospital and he took me to the toy store and said I could have whatever I wanted. I have no recollection of what I chose, but I remember that he did it. I imagine that day he was glad I was okay. #
The things they give you, their love, the small incidental memories -- they end up mattering more than any of the battles they fought or the impossible dreams they never achieved. #
Last update: Wednesday March 17, 2021; 8:56 PM EDT.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)
