Most people choose their jobs for a reason. Some may fall into an opportunity (or default into a position), but in general, there’s some motivation to why someone has a chosen field. (And I certainly hope so, because if not, where’s the passion?). For me, mine is in large part my dad, and on Veterans Day I thought it appropriate to tell the story.
My father is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was drafted in the Vietnam era, and served 18 months in Bad Kissingen, Germany, where he lugged the mail bag around the base camp, destroying his knees (further). It’s a part of his life in which he takes a lot of pride. (It’s also the part of his life that gave me my first experience in veteran disability claims, as the first one I handled was my father’s).
When Dad came back from Germany, he dabbled in real estate development (owning and operating two apartment buildings he took over from my grandfather) before building a convenience store from the ground up. I still remember going with him to pick out the color of bricks for the exterior, how proud he was. Over gray bricks.
Without getting too personal, when Dad owned his store, certain issues alerted me (even as a kid) to how important it is to have professionals help you who know what they’re doing. Dad didn’t have that on the law side, and it was a problem.
He didn’t know it would be a problem. He figured a lawyer was a lawyer, and that was it. And that’s not true. We have different areas of speciality, and if you don’t know how to do something, you shouldn’t do it.
After I graduated law school and started working in the Washington, D.C. area, I found myself thinking about Dad, and how I wanted to help small businesses owned by veterans like him. How important it was to be able to do that well.
Now, some time later, I’m proud that I exclusively work with small businesses, almost all of them owned by veterans. I love watching their businesses grow, and I love knowing that I’m a part of it. On this Veterans Day, I’m appreciative that Legal Meets Practical lets me do that.
I remember the gray bricks. They built more than a convenience store in Illinois.
