Have you ever heard of the story of Steve Jobs and Mona Simpson? If not, I’ll give you a brief rundown. It’s pretty interesting. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, was given up for adoption by his biological parents – American Joanne Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah “Jonh” Jandali. The two later had another child – Mona. Schieble and Jandali eventually separated, and while Jobs was being raised by a blue collar family in California, Mona was being raised by Schieble in Wisconsin. Steve and Mona met later in life, and when they finally connected (Jobs tracked her down), they were struck by their similar personalities, especially their intensities. Jobs started the world’s most successful computer/technology company and Simpson was a heralded novelist. They became very close, not much of which is known to the public, but Simpson gave a touching eulogy at Job’s funeral that gave a rare glimpse into their bond.
I felt the same kinship Simpson and Jobs felt two weekend’s ago when my brother visited from Florida. All odds are against our relationship staying alive, let alone being strong. We don’t talk much, don’t live close to each other and we certainly aren’t in the same industries. He practices law and I practice… errr… sewing and blogging. And our drinking tastes and social tendencies are even more different. He’s a social butterfly and I am reserved. Despite this, we’re eerily similar. During his 3-day stay, we took a day trip to NYC and Brooklyn – he dragged me to a speakeasy in Williamsburg and I dragged him to Mood Fabrics in the GD. We shared our philosophies, future life plans, relationship status and more, and like matching side seam to side seam, we were exactly aligned (too korny?). I sometimes think my tendencies and routines are not normal, but knowing that there is another human being that thinks and acts like I do is comforting and refreshing.
Now that James is gone, there’s been lots of sewing! Have you seen the dotty duster I’m working on? Stayed tuned!
Also, I want to thank everyone who reached out to me last week regarding my post about negative comments. I received so much support in the comments of that post, on Facebook, on Instagram, and via email. Thanks to you, I had a wonderful weekend sewing.
