I have to admit I have secretly lusted over having a Mac for some time now. The lifelong PC in me was beginning to long for the apparent intuitive simplicity of the Mackintosh computer. I took the first peek at the dark side when I helped Erin with a website she was designing for her mother-in-law’s business. Next I blindly trotted down the trail from which there is no return when I helped the girl put together a power point for the same business. The final headlong plunge into the Apple abyss happened on the cruise. Jon, Erin’s co-conspirator in Steven Job’s attempt to take over the world, at least the cool part of the world, created a video including music, video clips, and photos of the cruise in about 20 minutes. Add to that, my complete technological ineptness and Mac’s idiot friendly platform, and well, let’s just say I could hear the wind rushing by as I was sucked into the Mac-lust vacuum. I was seriously thinking about talking to L about getting one, maybe for Mother’s Day or my birthday or something else in the not too distant future.
That was two weeks ago when life was normal, before my friend got cancer, before I started on an I-don’t-know-how-long-it’s-going-to-take-to-get-through-this-but-I-will-be-with-you-both-figuratively-and-in-reality-even-though-we-live-three-time-zones-apart so treks to California and looking for the best air fares moved to the top of my want list and a lap-top, any lap-top, my lap-top, my dream Mac Notebook Pro lap-top moved to the Maybe Someday List. Oh well.
So yesterday, when I was dropped off at the airport, fairly exhausted from an emotionally tough week, (feeling completely wrung out and a gut full of lead simultaneously-to be more accurate) I opened my phone to call a friend. There was a voicemail waiting so I dialed in. Imagine my surprise when the voice said, “Hi, This message is for Becky Cobler. This is Stephanie from the Briarwood Mall Apple Store and your Mac Book Pro is all set up and ready to be picked up. We’ll be open until 9:00 tonight. Have a good day.”
Once I stopped blubbering I called Erin. “Do you know anything about a Mac Book Pro at Briarwood?” I asked.
“Welllllll, ummmm,” silence. My kids suck at lying. She spilled it all; the urgent text message from her dad that made her wonder what kind of bad news he was delivering, her brother’s co-conspiracy, the whole nine yards. Then she couldn’t stop talking about all the things I could do that she would teach me.
Next I called Jon. “How are you at keeping secrets?” I asked.
“Gee, why do you ask?” Awkward silence. Yeah, they really do not know how to lie. They would never hold up under any kind of interrogation. Jon spilled more details. Apparently L decided to do something special to make me happy after a week that really sucked. More tears. I vowed to keep the secret.
So there it was sitting on the seat waiting for me when Larry picked me up last night. He had a sheepish grin. “I heard you found out,” he said. Stinking kids can’t keep a secret worth a damn! (but I guess the real blame falls on Stephanie at the Apple store-possibly they are not all geniuses) He assured me that this was, indeed, my computer not a family computer that was really set up for him that I could use. This was for me.
More blubbering. Larry, bless his heart, knowing me well, included the One on One package that gives my weekly time in the Apple store each week with one of the ‘geniuses” to help me with anything I want to learn.
We did our first iChat with Jon and Erin when we got home. They were both pretty excited and offered their expertise to give helpful advice and tutorials any time. (Erin spent two hours with me today trying to help me through the beginnings.)
It’s awesome. Not the Mac Book Pro, though that too is pretty darn cool. Larry is awesome. Because he gets me. He knew exactly what I wanted without being asked. He got all the stuff it needed so I could use it and it would be mine personally. He didn’t wait for an ‘occasion’, he just did it because he wanted to do something special to make a week that really sucked, not suck quite so much. He wanted all those upcoming trips to be a little better and knew this would help. He was right, of course.
Because he gets me. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.
thanks, babe
Thanks for sharing