Better Lucky Than Good

Lately, when K. and I discuss where our family's at and where we're headed, we keep coming back to the word "lucky." The turmoil and doubt of the past couple of years isn't something I'm keen to repeat, but I can't help it--when I think about where I am and how I was led here, I think less in terms of merit than of grace. When the book of my life is written, the best that may be said of me is that I took good advice when it was given to me. I don't come up with very many good ideas on my own, but I seem to know a good one when I hear it. This Thanksgiving, I'm of course grateful for the parents who taught me true principles, and for the friends and teachers who have left their imprint on my character, but I also want to give thanks to all those whose pearls of knowledge somehow fell into my lap. So, if you're out there, here's some hearty thanks

-to the law student in Houston, who said if he could do it again, he would go to Virginia;

-to Spencer W. Kimball, for saying "Have your children and have them early";

-to my Constitutional Law professor, who said that the novels of Patrick O'Brian were "really good";

-to my Trusts & Estates professor, who said it was a great way to practice law;

-to the neighbor who said I should give Delaware a try;

-to the corporate litigator who smiled, shook his head, and said "Don't go into corporate litigation";

-for that calm feeling I got when I turned down a secure job offer for a doomed one;

and especially to the friend who convinced me to go to a party right before spring finals. I probably should have studied--it's been almost ten years and none of that knowledge has endured. Instead I wasted precious study time chatting up a flute performance major with an unearthly glow, and in a few days she would graduate and be gone. Hey Ted, this one's for you. Thanks for twisting my arm.