In past years I have typically written a column satirically looking back at the prior year’s calamities month by month. I did not endeavor to create such a painful review for 2020. Many people lost much in 2020. Yet somehow, we looked forward to the calendar turning to 2021 and things would get better. In retrospect every Year in Review from the past carries the same theme of the past year being painful and looking toward the calendar changing with hope for something better. So maybe 2020 wasn’t so different than other years except that we were able to see it every day on our televisions, computers, and phones. There was a time in 2020 when many people shared that every day was like Groundhog Day without any sense of what day of the week or month that it was. We looked toward 2021 with hope and prayers for unity.
I read that most New Year’s resolutions have been abandoned by January 19th of every year. I’m not even sure how you track such things, but it does sound right. I’m not big on resolutions but I am big on goal setting in your personal life, business life, and in relationships. One of giant-sized problems with working from home or being quarantined is that you lose touch with relationships. As we return to the new normal each of us needs to reach out and reestablish those relationships that fell by the wayside and to also establish new relationships. Even if this is accomplished by making a call or sending a note because we still cannot meet for coffee, do it. It is important to your wellbeing and you don’t know how significant an impact making contact can have on the receiver. We are in the high stress legal business and going all gas and no brakes usually ends up with you in the ditch. I’m borrowing from a social media meme and I’m not sure who to attribute authorship to, but I thought it was perfect for our profession:
Being a lawyer is really just having everyone mad at you, all
the time. Opposing party. Opposing counsel. Your client. Your
client’s mom. The judge. Clerks. Random people on the street
asking for legal advice that is out of your practice area. Your
dog. Basically everyone.
That does sum up our situation some of the time, but it is those other times when you have just won a victory for the client, wrote the perfect brief, negotiated the best deal, or received the unconditional love of your pet, that we celebrate and take a deep breath. We need to better recognize the victories we should celebrate and breathe a bit more easily. If you are having issues don’t hesitate to reach out to someone for help. The OBA Lawyers Helping Lawyers provides support to our profession for these types of needs1.
As I write this article, Groundhog Day just happened, the real one, and now have more winter to look forward to. We are also preparing for the attack of the polar vortex. It really does always seem to be something coming just around the next corner. Covid 19 continues to be a real issue even as the vaccination roll out continues. We are wearily watching as three mutated strains of the virus spread, not knowing what those effects will bring to us. Last year at this time it seems like we viewed Covid 19 in the same manner. We have an impeachment trial ongoing, same as last year. Unity lasted for one day during the inauguration and now everyone is back to the partisan politics, same as last year. Russia and China seem to be showing that they are not our friends, same as last year. We have a border security and immigration crisis, same as last year. Several extremist groups on both political flanks are acting out, same as last year. The government continues to print money which eventually must lead to inflation unless economic cycles are somehow undone. The U.S. Supreme Court opinions from last term were primarily issued unanimously. The rule of law remains constant, is foundational to our system of government, and always needs your support. We are resilient and continue to move forward, even with pains and sorrow.
So, in some ways 2020 and 2021 aren’t that different, and don’t deviate much from other historical events. Having said that I do want to make a point that the Covid 19 virus is real. You need to continue to socially distance, wash your hands with soap often, wear a mask, and get the vaccine when it is your turn. 2021 brought Covid 19 into my home, so for me the new year was already no better than 2020. We were fortunate, were not hospitalized, and are mostly back too normal. We took precautions and did all the right things, but it only takes one exposure to blow it all up. The road back was not that easy, and I hope you don’t have to go through it. My sense of smell still has not returned. You don’t sufficiently appreciate the role that smell plays with your sense of taste until you try things like peanut butter, grilled onions, red wine, whiskey, and chocolate without the sense of smell. Covid 19 caused me to miss National Pie Day for goodness sakes. Really folks, don’t let your guard down and please continue to take Covid precautions.
During my Covid downtime I watched the movie Twister which was released 25 years ago2. This movie introduced the world to life as an Okie, storm chasing, weather lord Gary England, Bill, Joe, the Fujita scale, and a young Phillip Seymour Hoffman wearing the iconic block OU cap. This reminded me of the Oklahoma standard. Regardless of whether it was 1995, 2001, 2020 or 2021, we help our neighbors and even strangers. I also watched/listened to some Garth Brooks FB live3. As always, his music and wisdom grounded me on some happier thoughts. It wasn’t blame it on my roots or thanking God for unanswered prayers that caught my attention, but it was his commentary on the song American Pie which was released 51 years ago4. His words were something to the effect of this is a classic song because whether you are 10 or 80, you can sing along with these lyrics at the top of your voice and it just makes things better. So, give it a try. Stay hopeful, maintain the course, and keep the faith. It is the way.
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die4
Byline: Michael W. Brewer is an attorney, founder, and partner of Hiltgen & Brewer, P.C. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To contact Mike, email mbrewer@hbokc.law, call (405) 605-9000 or tweet him at @attymikeb. For more information, please visit www.hbokc.law.
Endnotes:
1. www.okbar.org/lhl. 800-364-7886
2. Twister. Directed by Jan de Bont, Universal Pictures/ Warner Bros/ Amblin Entertainment, 1996.
3. Brooks, Garth (2021). Facebook Live, https://www.facebook.com/GarthBrooks/. Accessed February 5, 2021.
4. McLean, Don. “American Pie.” American Pie, Ed Freeman for The Rainbow Collection, Ltd., 1971.
Open & Obvious? 