In the three months before Steve Jobs passed away, his daughter began to secretly take items from the house.
Barefoot, she wandered around the rooms, casually slipping her chosen items into her pockets—blush, dental floss, a pair of flawed celadon porcelain washbasins, a bottle of nail polish, a pair of old patent leather ballet shoes, and a few yellowed pillowcases.
She confessed, “Every time I took something, I felt a sense of satisfaction wash over me. I kept telling myself that it would be the last time. However, the desire to steal from my father was like a thirst, constantly growing in my heart…”
As an unacknowledged "illegitimate daughter," she never received the affection she deserved from her father. It was as though there was a vast void in her heart, desperately needing to be filled.
Each time she took something, she felt her life seemed a bit more complete.
Across the world, she would see her father’s photos, that face she knew so well, yet no one outside knew she was the daughter of this legendary figure. In those moments, a thought would surface in her mind: “Yes, this is my father, but no one else knows.”
She was the “stain” in Steve Jobs' life, the eldest daughter he refused to acknowledge, a child born before his marriage, from a relationship with a former girlfriend.
When she was born, she had never met her father until she was two years old, when they first met due to a court order demanding Jobs pay child support.
Jobs had always denied her, even claiming he was infertile to avoid acknowledging her existence. Even with clear genetic test results, he preferred to live with the lie rather than accept her as his daughter.
The lawsuit dragged on for months without resolution until just before “Apple” was about to go public. Jobs suddenly agreed to pay child support, at $385 a month.
Although she was Jobs' daughter, her life was like that of an orphan.
Before she turned seven, she and her mother frequently moved, sometimes staying with friends of her mother, sometimes renting shabby places, relying on welfare and her mother’s odd jobs to get by.
As the daughter of a billionaire, her life was even harder than that of ordinary people.
When they could no longer find a place to stay, her mother appealed to Jobs for help, prompting him to increase the monthly support by $200.
Though this amount was not large, it was enough for them to rent a small apartment and finally have a home of their own.
Their belongings were meager: cooking utensils, a mat, a rocking chair, a lamp, and a few books...
After moving to the new home, the rooms felt empty. Jobs "donated" an old sofa to them, but they had to transport it themselves. When they arrived at Jobs' house, they found the door tightly locked. Ultimately, Lisa's mother had to climb over the wall to retrieve the sofa.
In stark contrast, Jobs’ younger daughter received an entirely different treatment. She lived comfortably from a young age, with no worries about food or clothing, while Lisa was never allowed to be in family photos, struggled with tuition fees, and lacked a stable home…
Jobs was extremely harsh and unfeeling towards her.
Even the neighbors felt pity for her and were willing to cover her college tuition, but her father was unwilling to contribute a single penny.
Receiving so little from her father, she could only attempt to fill the emptiness inside her by taking his possessions. It wasn’t the items themselves that mattered to her, but the connection to her father that they represented, which provided her with some sense of satisfaction.
Happy people heal their entire lives with their childhood, while unhappy people spend their lives trying to heal their childhood.
Fortunately, Lisa eventually emerged from her emotional turmoil, found her true self, and became a well-known writer.
Comments