Over the last few months, a steady stream of visitors to Palo Alto,
Calif., called an old friend’s home number and asked if he was well
enough to entertain visitors, perhaps for the last time.
In February, Steven P. Jobs had learned that, after years of fighting cancer, his time was becoming shorter. He quietly told a few acquaintances, and they, in turn, whispered to others. And so a pilgrimage began.
The calls trickled in at first. Just a few, then dozens, and in recent weeks, a nearly endless stream of people who wanted a few moments to say goodbye, according to people close to Mr. Jobs. Most were intercepted by his wife, Laurene. She would apologetically explain that
In February, Steven P. Jobs had learned that, after years of fighting cancer, his time was becoming shorter. He quietly told a few acquaintances, and they, in turn, whispered to others. And so a pilgrimage began.
The calls trickled in at first. Just a few, then dozens, and in recent weeks, a nearly endless stream of people who wanted a few moments to say goodbye, according to people close to Mr. Jobs. Most were intercepted by his wife, Laurene. She would apologetically explain that
he
was too tired to receive many visitors. In his final weeks, he became
so weak that it was hard for him to walk up the stairs of his own home
anymore, she confided to one caller.
Some asked if they might try again tomorrow.Sorry, she replied. He had only so much energy for farewells. The man who valued his privacy almost as much as his ability to leave his mark on the world had decided whom he most needed to see before he left.
Mr. Jobs spent his final weeks — as he had spent most of his life — in tight control of his choices. He invited a close friend, the physician Dean Ornish, a preventive health advocate, to join him for sushi at one of his favorite restaurants, Jin Sho in Palo Alto. He said goodbye to longtime colleagues including the venture capitalist John Doerr, the Apple board
member Bill Campbell and the Disney chief executive Robert A. Iger. He offered Apple’s executives advice on unveiling the iPhone
4S, which occurred on Tuesday. He spoke to his biographer, Walter
Isaacson. He started a new drug regime, and told some friends that
there was reason for hope.
But, mostly, he spent time with his
wife and children — who will now oversee a fortune of at least $6.5
billion, and, in addition to their grief, take on responsibility for
tending to the legacy of someone who was as much a symbol as a man.“Steve made choices,” Dr. Ornish said. “I once asked him if he was glad that he had kids, and he said, ‘It’s 10,000 times better than anything I’ve ever done.’ ”
“But for Steve, it was all about living life on his
own
terms and not wasting a moment with things he didn’t think were
important. He was aware that his time on earth was limited. He wanted
control of what he did with the choices that were left.”
In
his final months, Mr. Jobs’s home — a large and comfortable but
relatively modest brick house in a residential neighborhood — was
surrounded by security guards. His driveway’s
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