A Meaningful WWDC

Last year I was all set to go to WWDC — or, rather, to everything but the actual conference — with plane tickets and hotel rooms booked. I was going to speak at AltConf and play with the Breakpoints and hang out with old friends and make new ones.

But, right before, my father-in-law died of complications from the treatment of a year-long illness. We thought he would get better, and then he didn’t. (This is what prompted my In the Room post of last October, even though that talked more about my grandfather.)

I was very close to my father-in-law. He lived nearby, in the suburbs, and he was a big part of my life for 25 years.

Naturally I canceled my trip.

When he died, it was already clear that my mother-in-law was also sick — for entirely different reasons, and entirely coincidentally. So we went from one to the other without a break. I was as close to her as I was to him, and she died this past January.

Both were too young, and both had been marvelously healthy and energetic — and I still keep forgetting that they’re not just traveling or something and I’ll see them soon, and then I remember.

* * *

So this WWDC represents something for me. I missed it last year, but this year I can go and have fun — and that’s a real thing.

I’ll speak at AltConf, play with the Breakpoints, and hang out with old friends and make new ones. Same as last year would have been, but this year it’s different. Knowing that I missed it, but that I get to go this year, is helping me in a way it’s never had to help me before. It means something. And I thank everyone in advance just for literally being in SF at the same time as me next week.