I have always been passionate about being a student and despite having been in practice for awhile, I still hang on to a lot of my old habits from the days of law school. I still study every night after work; I still keep Ramen noodles on hand for evenings when cooking just isn’t in the cards (or for when the cupboards are bare); and I still make notes daily in the form of quotes made by my professors — except now, the professors are my clients and the lessons I’m being taught go home with me at night, instead of sticking to the surface of my day as a professional.
I made my first “QuoteBook” on my tenth birthday after I opened a gift from my grandmother: a glossy orange notebook with the following inscription
Always listen more than you talk, Little Girl. Life’s most important lessons come in the form of a whisper, a shout, a sob, or a whistle. These come from the people around you — the waiter at the restaurant, the person beside you on the sidewalk, the teacher at the head of the class, the little old lady at the end of the lunch line… Take what you hear. Write it down. Read the words. Learn your lessons. People are the best tree of knowledge in this life.
Love to you for always,
Grandma
Throughout primary school, I filled my QuoteBooks with jokes I heard from friends or funny little snippets from television commercials and movies. I clipped out newspaper headlines and magazine articles and carried my QuoteBook with me whenever I left my bedroom. By the time I reached law school, my QuoteBook entries had morphed into my method and manner for taking notes in class. When a professor stated something and repeated it — I wrote it down as I heard it and returned to it before an exam for buzzwords to use in an essay response. Now that I’m meeting with clients every day and have a job that involves asking for and hearing people’s stories, my QuoteBook is comprised of sticky notes and legal pads of chicken-scratched memories of my clients’ experiences and personalities.
Each week, we will be posting excerpts of quotes made by Thom L. Cooper Co., LPA clients to this blog. We invite you to be an active part of our company and share your experiences, quotes, and insights; to add your own limb to the Elder Tree of Knowledge. In order to preserve anonymity and privacy, names and identifying information have been intentionally removed from the quotes and some have been altered slightly for readability.
“I never thought it would come to this and it’s not what I signed up for when we first got married. He always said he would take care of me… that we would be together forever. And when he looks at me now [sigh]… it isn’t me that he sees – it’s just the nice lady with the red hat that brings him his morning orange juice.”
“God gave me three children: one of ‘em done lost his mind and married a woman three times his junior, one of ‘em gave up on America and moved to Uzbekistan, one of ‘em lost his life to cancer, one of ‘em couldn’t find his *** with both hands, one of ‘em disowned me because I couldn’t accept her decision to live on the streets, and one of ‘em hasn’t contacted me for the past thirty-four years. If you can figure out how many that leaves for me to give my stuff to when I’m done with it, I’ll write YOU into my will and give you a kiss!”
“When Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, we were so relieved that the doctors caught it early — she was only fifty! Along the years, they have treated her with medications, psychotherapy, crossword puzzles and trivia, and a change in diet. She was going strong for awhile, but these past few months have been really hard on all of us. She’s afraid all the time and doesn’t recognize us… For the first time, I’m realizing that I’m an adult and that it’s my responsibility to make some decisions that will affect all of us — forever. I don’t know what to do and I need help… Please… someone… just help me.”
“When I left [Thom’s office], he just put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry — we’ll take care of you.’ And that just relieved so much from my mind.”
At
Thom L. Cooper Company, LPA, we are all people just like you who want to listen to your needs and help you through whatever problems you have or want to avoid. We strive to answer all of your questions, to keep lines of communication open with your family, and to find the very best personalized solutions for you. If you need help or just some guidance and want to learn more about what we do and how it can serve you, I invite you to attend one of Thom’s
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contact us toll free. There is a live person waiting on the other end of the telephone to explain what we do and how it will benefit you and your family.
