My mother, Steve Jobs, and the iPad -- part 2

My sister Mimi, who writes a fabulous blog called Messy Mimi, forwarded the picture at left. It's our Mother, marveling at an iPad last Christmas.

I'm sharing the photo because I've received so many kind comments over the past few days in response to my last post, Steve Jobs' impact on my 92-year-old mother. In the blog post, I shared the story of an afternoon I spent with my mother, who has Alzheimer's, in which I showed her video from her past on my iPad, all thanks (at least indirectly) to Steve Jobs.

My mother was thrilled at the video. And apparently the story touched a nerve with readers. Here are just a few of the comments I received:

"What a great story. Both my grandmothers learned to use computers on an iMac. That's a legacy in itself." -- Alison in CA

"That's really quite a story. My grandfather suffered from Alzheimer's, so I know firsthand how magical that day must've seemed to both you and your mother." -- Claudia

"DESDE..TLAXCALA. LE AGRADESCO. A STEVE JOBS POR LA TECNOLOGIA QUE HIZO POSIBLE." -- Zalraviveros

OK, I've got no idea what that last one meant, but I thought I'd throw it in anyhow.

I forgot to mention that my mother, for several decades before her Alzheimer's set in, was a fabulous painter. Every year, she would mail out hundreds of Christmas cards. The card featured a painting she'd done since the previous Christmas. She loved to paint country scenes, primitive furniture and stuff she collected at the Super Flea in Greensboro, which included tractor seats, Mrs. Butterworth bottles, potato mashers, pie birds, and a chicken feeder she used as an umbrella stand. My favorite painting/Christmas card of hers was an outhouse--with a wreath on its door. It sums up her country girl charm and wit beautifully, not to mention her talent for painting.

I'll be visiting my mother soon, and my hope is to get her to draw something on my iPad's screen using the Brushes app. I've even bought a special iPad paintbrush. I'll let y'all know how it goes.