One of my heroes, Steve Jobs, passed away last week. It's almost too much to qualify what an impact he, and his creations via Apple, have had on my life in the general sense, and as a designer. As a Mac zealot since 1994…as the second person in line for the grand opening of Illinois' first Apple Store in 2001…as the proud owner of Plush Steve Jobs...it's no exaggeration to say this loss has me incredibly saddened. As so many others on the 'net have qualified his legacy and global/social/cultural impact far better than I could, I'd rather talk about something more personal: the day I met Steve Jobs.

In June of 2001, Steve Jobs was giving the keynote at the NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) at McCormick Place in Chicago. As this was the one local opportunity I'd have to see him in person, I dragged my girlfriend at the time along with me at 5AM to be among the first five in line for the speech. Snagging front row seats, I was about 20 feet from Steve as he ran through Apple's commitment to education, most notably their PowerSchool software. After, since we were already there, we decided to walk the showroom floor comprised of booths and vendors and their education-geared tools. Soon after, we spotted Steve himself walking the showroom floor, flanked by a few other people. I had brought something along for him to sign, but as I saw a girl approach him and say "Mr. Jobs it's my birthday, will you please sign my poster?", and Steve flatly replied "No." …I decided to not take that approach.

Eventually positioning myself in his walking path, I worked up the nerve to introduce myself. "Mr. Jobs, my name is Justin, I'm a big fan" I said, extending my hand for a handshake. "Well thank you" he replied as he smiled and shook my hand, and went on his way. I stalked him walking the floor for a few more minutes, the highlight of which was Steve walking up to the Microsoft display as a guy with a head mic gave a demo. Spotting Jobs, he momentarily froze, then regained his composure. Later as I was on my cell with everyone I could think of to convey the news of what just happened, Phil Schiller walked right past me. Who gives a shit, man; I just shook Steve Jobs' hand.

It's a fantastic memory to hold on to. Every Apple computer I've gotten my hands on…from the Apple II we played The Oregon Trail on in grade school…to my trusty Quadra 610…to the Performa 6400/180 I scraped up enough cash to get while at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago…to the 2.8 GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro I'm writing this article on…has been a marvel of ingenuity and facilitator of boundless creativity. Stoked beyond belief to pick up my iPhone 4S this Friday, too. Thank you, Steve Jobs.