One last change

It appears that there has been a definite theme to my recent posts. Changes are a natural and necessary function to life, I'm glad that I have been able to recognize and learn from them. The following is just a trite observation that has made me painfuly aware of the fact that I am aging.

Two of my favorite sports icons have recently retired. In January Emmitt Smith joined the Cowboys for a day so that he could retire with a star on his helmet. I have carefully followed his amazing career ever since I was in Jr. High. The monumental 49ers-Cowboys games of the mid 90's were amazing events and strained some of my early friendships. Later, in February, Karl Malone announced that he was leaving basketball. My recollections of the Mailman go back even further to my days as a 4th grader. I remember, as a small lad, briefly meeting him at an appliance store. All of my friends embraced Karl and the Jazz, they were our only team in the world of professional sports.

I guess I took the careers of these two giants for granted. I just assumed that they would always be there, that was atleast the case for most of my life. Their retirements signaled the end of my real involvement and interest in sports and helped me realize that maybe I should devote my recreational efforts to tasks more befitting with my age such as gardening and the symphony. I will still follow sports, but the loss of my intimate connections with these games might lesson my allegiance to some degree. And that just might make my wife a little happier.

more changes

I guess it takes certain events in my life to truly me wake up and take account for myself. The last few weeks have provided some major events that have really got my attention and focus. The latest of these events was the passing of my boss. He was only 41 and was in the prime of his life. His death has really touched me on many levels. He was a brillant man who positively touched the lives of many people, as was evidenced by the hundreds who attended his funeral.

I have spent several hours evaluating his life and what made it special. He was a visionary man who took risks and thought big. This was what attracted me to seek employment with his company. All it took was 5 minutes and you were equally sold and ready to sign on. More then that he made sure that you were included in his vision. Despite all of the ups and downs that this company encountered over the last few months, his first order of business was to always take care of his employees. He ran a business to make money, but not at the expense of more important things like family.

This death has also given me a chance to look inward. He lived such a good and full life... I needed to see how I was doing. His example has given me new resolve to make some positive changes in my life, that might be the best legacy he could have left me. I feel that I would be letting him down if I didn't act on his example.

This has been particularly hard for me. This is the first death of someone close who wasn't expected to die. He was my contemporary and a great mentor. I will always cherish those memories of our time together. Those times, after work, when we were able to leave work behind and discuss the similarities between Judaism and Mormonism, outline our goals for our future, or just to share quirky stories about our families.




Steven Mark Gootter

Steven Mark Gootter was born on May 2, 1962 in New York. He passed away on February 10, 2005 in Scottsdale, where he resided for the past four years. He moved to Tucson with his family at the age of eight and graduated from Tucson High School, where he was state champion in tennis, and in 1985 graduated from the University of Arizona. Steve was an entrepreneur and enjoyed a successful career in real estate, financial planning, and mergers and acquisitions. He excelled in fostering his own and others' creative ideas. This passion was reflected in his founding of Journey IPD, an intellectual properties firm specializing in helping inventors and entrepreneurs license, commercialize and protect their ideas. Steve, himself, held several patents and has products selling in 27 countries. Steve was an active, giving, optimistic, and honest individual. He had a tremendous sense of humor and a gift for making others laugh. His "joie de vivre" radiated in everything he did and everyone he touched. His spirit will live on by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed by his wife Debbie, his two children, Sophie and Max, his parents Joseph George and Paulette Gootter, Sisters Shari and Claudine (Andrew) Messing, and his nephews, Alex Gootter and Drew Messing. Services will be held at Temple Emanu-EI on Sunday, February 13, 2005 at 2:00 PM., 225 N. Country Club Rd., Tucson, AZ. Interment will follow in the Temple Emanu-EI Section of Evergreen Cemetery. Remembrances can be made to The Steven Gootter Educational Fund, c/o Shoah Foundation, P.O. Box 3168, Los Angeles, CA 90078-3168 or the Sarver Heart Center for Research, UMC 1501 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ.

Changes....part duex

I grew up in a very stable household. My dad was a dentist and my childhood passed without any great needs or deviations from normal life. That environment did very little for preparing me for my sojourn into life.
The last few years have been full of many twists and turns, ranging from ultimate bliss to the fear of uncertainty. Shelley is now pregnant. With that comes all of the expected changes to our life. These changes will be joyful. One the other end of the spectrum is my current job. It appears that my company will not receive the necessary funding needed to get the business self sustainable. I love my job, my co-workers, and my work but I am now faced with the grim specter of having to find another job. I could stay here and continue to work in uncertainty and risk or I could search for a more stable job. With the upcoming kid, I will be forced to do the latter. The next few months will be filled with faith, diligence, and networking as a work to achieve that stability that I was accustomed to growing up.