There are many people living and dead who I greatly admire. They have some general qualities in common. Courage, integrity, compassion, vision. Nelson Mandela is probably the human I admire the most. As you can see to the right I had the gift of being able to meet him when I was in South Africa. I cannot begin to comprehend how a man is persecuted throughout his life, dedicates himself to the struggle to ensure that the color of a persons skin should not determine how that person is treated, goes to prison for 27 years because of this belief and emerges with a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. I'm so petty I still hold grudges against people who didn't include me in their group in high school. Recently a book was written about some of Mandela's fundamental principles. I gave the book to another man I admire.
You may have seen bumper stickers where the driver is proclaiming that his "boss is a Jewish carpenter". Well, my boss is a Jewish lawyer. His name is Richard Alpert. Apparently there was a character on LOST with the same name. This prompted us to purchase the likeness in bobblehead form.
The Richard I know really doesn't look much different. Just a little bit taller and not as much eyeliner. The non-bobblehead Richard is man not unlike Mandela. He likes to remind me that working so closely with me on a daily basis is a lot like the torment Mandela experienced in prison.....just more chatty. All new prosecutors in our office spend about 2 years under Richard's tutelage, and as hard as it is for me to put in print, we are truly all lucky to be able to glean from his talent. You see Richard has literally dedicated his life to prosecuting cases involving deaths caused by drunk drivers and he has become THE expert in the field not only in Texas but all over the country. This became his niche when he realized that most victims of drunk driving crashes are police officers who are trying to make the roads safe for all of us, but end up the casualties of a senseless act. Needless to say, his passion strikes home for me. About a year and a half ago Richard asked if I would be interested in working directly for him again supervising new attorneys. I was flattered by the offer....then realized I was about half a dozen deep in the line of people that he asked before me. Regardless, I was honored and took the position. Since that time Richard has not missed an opportunity to challenge me to grow as a manager, to be challenged as a trial attorney or to push me toward a situation that can only make me better. There are very few people who enjoy watching others succeed as much as he does. And while we share a lot in common professionally as well as personally, our faith is not exactly the same. We are both comfortable sharing our feelings and our convictions and have no problem even joking about it. I would write down an example...but that's really not something you want burned in print forever to be misunderstood. Despite where my Christianity and his Judaism diverge, Richard was one of the first whole-hearted supporters of me participating in a Christian-focused, dental mission. When I asked him what he thought about taking 10 days off to share the love of Jesus through dentistry to orphans in Ethiopia his response was, "I would be upset with you if you didn't". When I told him I was thinking about selling cupcakes around the office to raise the money he immediately threw out marketing ideas and sales techniques. With his encouragement I went home and whipped up these.
Chocolaty, marshmellowy, S'more cupcakes.
Armed with this plate of sugary goodness Richard lead me like a circus elephant through our office, leaning on all the big wigs to dig deep and fork out some cash. By the end of the day my measly 18 cupcakes raked in $67.50 (and I started by asking $1.50 for them). And when I felt bad about people who were paying me in $20s rather than singles, Richard pulled me aside and assured me that I should never turn away a gift someone is willing to give to a cause I feel passionately about. He reminded me that people want to share in an experience like this any way they can.
So ultimately Gabby's angst about who was going to make cupcakes for the children without mommies and daddies turned into the first $200 I received to go on this trip. And the man whose response to being asked to have a "come to Jesus meeting" said "that didn't work out so well when He met with my people the last time" was the impetus behind it all. You have to believe that God has a great sense of humor.
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