Tap & Click Memories

As she opened up the drawing program on her computer, her attention picked up the sound of the taps on the keyboard and the click of the mouse. It startled her for a second because she remembered those specific sounds coming from the other room where her dad was working late into the night. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom and was passing the bedroom where only the glow of the monitor was alight. The door was ajar but not open. She didn't see how tired he looked and how patiently he was working. She just heard the rhythm of the clicks and taps - and she listened for a while. It was nice. She almost fell back asleep standing there listening.

Fast forward to today. She's the one drawing things of her own. Her dad was never a famous illustrator but he helped local restaurants make menus and signs. It wasn't great work. Nobody got rich. But she never heard her parents argue about money like some of her friend's parents did. Her dad worked hard. He taught her how important that was not by any words he said to her, but by the fact that he always showed up and did his daily work on the boat - and then came home to make signs and menus and business cards. Not many people had computers at the time, but he knew it was the future.

So, he spent a big chunk of his savings to buy a used computer. It had software installed and his friend taught him how to use it. It was a good deal.

At the time, he was one of the few people in the city who could do that kind of work in an affordable way. Now, she was offering affordable services to people all over the world. She didn't have the same high cost of living that many of her clients had and the money she makes is twice what she'd make in a similar job working for a local company. 

So, here she is -- working. Tapping, clicking, and staying up late at night keeps the memory of her father close to her heart.