1983: Kathleen turns two. I dive into weeks of intense study for the bar exam. Then two days of testing at the convention center in Atlanta. It’s multiple choice one day and essays the next. I sit next to a guy who tells me he’s failed twice. Then the wait. Then walking the empty halls of some government building to the board where the results are posted. Ecstatic celebration to Prince’s Little Red Corvette. And dancing. I graduate in June. Kathleen and I move to a town house near Ansley Mall in Atlanta–five minutes from my parents’ house and one minute from my grandmother’s. I buy suits and start work in trusts and estates. Kathleen starts daycare at Little Paces Schoolhouse. On the last day of October, I’m one of six attorneys from our firm to attend oral arguments in the Supreme Court in the matter of Hishon v. King & Spalding, in which our firm is being sued by a former associate who is alleging she was discriminated against on the basis of her sex. I stay in Washington for the weekend–in Georgetown with my friend Amelia from law school. I buy my first real piece of art–a lithograph of trees I still own. Thanksgiving night, I have a date to see The Big Chill.
~
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
—Mary Oliver
I wasn’t surprised your parents recommended divorce b/c you had included the subtext of their disapproval of the boyfriend/husband in previous posts. I do wonder how they felt and acted when the divorce came through, and then when you moved into a townhouse near them with your baby girl. Does the relationship from that time feel uncluttered and loving?
You never say how HARD any of this was. Surely much of it was very, very hard??
Two unforgivable cliff-hangers: What did the Supremes say?? And a date on Thanksgiving! WHAT?? Maybe b/c my family is obsessed with food, it seems impossible to me that one could go on a DATE on that very special day of eating far too much, far into the night. Priorities, Lady. But I guess it all worked out….
Interesting… I will have to go back and look at subtext. My parents loved having us nearby, and it was wonderful for Kathleen who didn’t have to be picked up from daycare by a babysitter. I don’t remember it being hard, just that, because of my long, long hours, I was seeing Kathleen less and less. The Supreme Court reached a unanimous verdict that Title VII was applicable to partnerships, and therefore Hishon had a right to sue for alleged discrimination. But instead of going ahead with a trial, they settled. We often went to movies Thanksgiving night–after being stuffed with food and family. The movie is what made the date memorable : )
It’s funny how you start measuring time by your child’s milestones and age…
So true, Terri.