The Wife of The Father of The Internet

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Note: I wrote this blog post before I received my new glasses.

Once upon a time, I worked for Vinton “Vint” G. Cerf. He is often referred to as “The Father of the Internet.” I worked for him when he was one of the Vice Presidents for a large telecomm company named MCI/Worldcomm. My dad was once friends with the founder of MCI. Here’s a little tidbit - “MCI” stood for “Microwave Communications Incorporated.” Kind of interesting, isn’t it? 

Vint Cerf was one of the coolest guys I have ever met. He is kind, smart, funny, clever. He was one of the technical advisors for Star Trek for a while. He may still be. I am not sure, actually. He is also on the board of directors of Gallaudet University. Vint Cerf wears hearing aids, or at least he did when I knew him. He also happens to be an excellent lip reader. I really enjoyed working with and for Vint Cerf. Last I heard, he was one of the big guys at Google. I wish him wonderful things. He wants to see Internet Protocol on everything. 

His wife, to whom he’s been married for decades, was deaf when they got married. I am not entirely certain of the entire story, but my understanding is that she had always been deaf. She went through surgery to get a cochlear implant. I hope I spelled that correctly. It is an implant that goes on to the back or side of your head and helps a deaf person be able to hear. After she got the implant and the doctors turned it on, she called her husband on the phone. My memory says they had been married 20-30+ years at that point. He answered the phone and she got to hear his voice for the first time in their marriage. 

Can you imagine someone’s life changing so drastically in that way? You’ve been married to and in love with someone for decades. And: you have never heard their voice. And suddenly, technology springs up, and now: you can hear your spouse’s voice for the first time. Wow. 

I feel like when I get this new pair of glasses with their PRIZM technology, that my world will radically shift, too. I keep thinking about Vint’s wife’s world shifting when she first heard his voice after decades of silence. 

Can you imagine having a decade of walking through 2 Dimensional moving pictures, and suddenly now you can see in 3D? My life is about to radically change. 

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