Steve Jobs’ Last Words: “OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.”

3:39 pm, October 30th | by Hillary Reinsberg

We’ve read a great deal about Steve Jobs since his death earlier this month — the outpouring of accounts and memorials has been pretty unbelievable, but very few of those have come from the people who truly, truly knew him. His sister Mona Simpson’s eulogy, which she gave at Jobs’ memorial service two weeks ago, is published today in The New York Times and it’s very well worth a read. And a tear too, perhaps.

Simpson and Jobs didn’t grow up together, as Jobs was adopted, but they reconnected at the start of their careers as young adults in their early 20s. Simpson went on to become a famous novelist and professor.

Like others, she alludes to his appreciation for beauty and dedication to hard work, but the more gripping parts of her eulogy deal with Jobs’ relationship with his family:

“He was a physical dad, with each of his children. He fretted over Lisa’s boyfriends and Erin’s travel and skirt lengths and Eve’s safety around the horses she adored.”

And how he kept his family humble:

“…For many of the first years I knew Steve and Lo together, dinner was served on the grass, and sometimes consisted of just one vegetable. Lots of that one vegetable. But one. Broccoli. In season. Simply prepared. With the just the right, recently snipped, herb.”

And also, how he was a romantic:

“Steve was like a girl in the amount of time he spent talking about love. Love was his supreme virtue, his god of gods. He tracked and worried about the romantic lives of the people working with him.”

Finally, Simpson shares the heart-wrenching account of what it was like to be with Jobs during his final moments. She shares his last words: “OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.”

Read the whole thing over at the Times.

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