Barry L. Lippitt, Esq. November 2005 Those who look for a new posting from me on a regular basis (and there must be someone), know that I've been rather quiet lately. Time has been at a premium the last two years, and my family and I had to accept my mother's terminal diagnosis of cancer, and her fairly successful fight to hold of the disease's progression until the last few months. When my grandparents passed away (my previous experiences with death in the immediate family), I was either very young (12 for my grandfather) or coping with law school (2nd year just started for my grandmother). Consequently, this was my first experience sitting shiva as a participant and not an observer. As those who have gone through the process know, the shiva period is quite overwhelming. The faces that passed through the doors, both at the funeral home and at the house, blurred as the week went by. I can remember very little of any conversations that I had with anyone that week, although I probably tried to be, at least, a polite listener at the time. My mother's passing was also challenging because it followed an unfortunate family tradition of centering around the various holidays. Except for her father, all of my grandparents and several great-grandparents all died either on a holiday, during the intermediate days, or close enough to the holiday that the holiday ended shiva early. Her absence from synagogue and table during Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and the following festival deepened the sense of loss that my family feels. Since formal mourning ended, I have spent a great deal of time reevaluating the priorities in my life, as I try to catch up on my law practice that has been on hold since the spring. I realized, in no small part due to the outpouring of support that I received from my TER friends, that TER plays a more significant role in my life than I have ever appreciated. The many people I have met through TER, whether in Detroit or at a meeting or convention, are a second family for me. These are friendships that are more than mere friendships. This realization infuses me with more strength to continue working to sustain TER as a viable national organization, that will continue to provide a place for our traditional membership, as well as any others who are not welcome in the mainstream legal community. I invite and urge all of you to join with me to reinvigorate the society, to find and develop new members and leaders for the next generation, and to select new avenues of opportunity for our members to demonstrate leadership and set examples in the legal community (and community at large) that has always been the hallmark of our organization. ************************************************************************************************** On another note, I hope all of you will join me in Ft. Lauderdale this year for our Annual Meeting and Convention. We have another fun and value-packed experience for our members, including the approved-for-CLE programs that we offer for those who need annual credits. Please see the link on the home page for a registration form and more information. Barry L. Lippitt Send all questions or comments to: chancellor@ter-law.org |