At age eight, I attended Steve’s 40th birthday party. My father was his insurance agent.

Steve had transformed his house in Almaden Valley into a playhouse. The attic spanning the entire footprint of the house was carpeted and filled with arcade games, Nintendo Entertainment Systems, snacks, and any fun a kid could imagine. You entered and exited via ladders built throughout the house, in various rooms.

In one room, “The Ball-oon Room,” the floor was filled from floor to ceiling with balloons.

Steve had a dinosaur cave constructed in his backyard that integrated into his pool and a pond. Glass viewing ports peered into the depths of the pond. A television embedded into the wall playing archaeology shows on loop, fossils in the walls.

Why? To learn. To play. To inspire. That’s who he is.

There were many extravagances at Steve’s 40th, like a stadium-quality stage erected on the hillside that could seat a few hundred.

The most memorable thing for me was the party gift: burgundy sunglasses with built-in flashing LEDs. As a little boy, that blew my mind and inspired me for a lifetime.

Videos exist.