You can be quietly sipping your morning coffee when a single phone call yanks you back into a world you thought you had left behind. An old but absent friend has passed away, a distant relative has fallen gravely ill, or the high school that once anchored your youth has been demolished. These are what…
The Most Difficult Thing
A person asked me recently, “What is the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do?” Her question took me aback. It wasn’t something I could answer spontaneously; it required a sudden, deep audit of my past. It also required a level of vulnerability I wasn’t entirely prepared for. The true answer to a question…
A Grateful Life
To look back on one’s existence and acknowledge that it has been, in the final balancing, a good life requires us to confront a truth that is both liberating and terrifying: that while success is a pleasant companion, our mistakes are often our truest architects. There is a distinct difference between taking responsibility for our…
Chains of Life
Throughout my work career, my days were governed by lists. In private law practice, there was always a mountain of tasks waiting to be scaled. Later, at the Justice Department, the stakes grew exponentially. Every single morning, Attorney General Janet Reno, the Deputy, the Solicitor General, and I would gather to go over her personal…
Summer Sundays
I’ve always had a fondness for a summer Sunday, especially before two-a-days. Things already have a way of slowing down during the dog days of summer—especially down South, where the heat settles in thick as soup—but a summer Sunday? Well, that operates in a whole different gear. Looking back, those days tasted like cold watermelon…