Why is Helium Foot Software Involved?

Let me tell you about how I came up with the name "Helium Foot Software." When I was a kid, I would make a terrific noise lumbering up and down the stairs of our suburban home. No one in our home appreciated this noise, but my father had a sense of humor about it and took to calling me lead foot. My dad wasn't anyone that you would have heard of, but he was a good man, and a terrific father. He studied computer science at MIT before they had a computer science degree program and and he continued on to a very successful career as a partner in a technology firm. (His diploma actually said "Electrical Engineering" but every time we asked him to repair some electronic device, he would fix us with a poker stare and ask "is it digital?")

Looking back now, what I remember most is how loving he was. Though he was born in the 1940's, he never shied away from showing his emotions to his sons, and he always gave me a hug and kiss before bed. My father died when I was 20. I was lucky to have him as long as I did and to have more or less reached adulthood before he died.

When my dad died, I was still a molecular biologist, and though he was proud of what I had accomplished, he would have appreciated seeing me follow in his footsteps. Helium Foot Software is named in memory of my dad's nickname for me, and my efforts with the National Cancer Coalition are in his name.

Sincerely,
Keith Alperin