Mentors

Yesterday D1 was at UM Med School, meeting with a young nutritionist/gastroenterologist she hopes to study with. She had some time to kill, and strolled over to visit Dr. Barry, and they sat and talked.

It occurred to me how lucky she is, to have that sort of relationship with my friends. I liked most of my friends' parents, but I can't imagine going to their offices for career advice --with one major exception.

I met my friend Mike in law school. I sat next to him, and immediately knew we were politically opposite. It was the height of the Reagan era, and Mike answered every question along the lines of "Well, morning finally arrived in America."

Mike introduced me to his father Ed, who was a very well respected appellate lawyer in town. Ed took me under his wing, and guided my career. When my first job was ending, because my anti semitic, closet bisexual boss (I'll call him Dan, since that's his name) lost all his clients for leaving the firm in control of his coke addicted associate/lover, and this woman, who I'll call Vanessa, since that's her name, found out about another affair in LA, and threw her diploma at Dan's head, causing it to somehow slice through the double paned window on the 34th floor of the Southeast Building and crash to the sidewalk below --well, Ed promptly found me another job.

And then, a year later, when a seat opened at his close friend's firm, Ed called me again, and got me the job that would change my life.

Ed was a true mentor. I'd stop by his office in the old Concord Building, and shoot the breeze. It turned out that I wasn't his only protege. He sheparded literally hundreds of young lawyers, including one fellow who is now a Florida Supreme Court justice.

My Dad really enjoyed my friends, and we had meals together, but I couldn't have imagined any of my friends seeking his private counsel.

My Ds are far luckier. They know they can call or see several of my (and Wifey's) close friends, and get advice on life and career.

Tonight, I'm going to watch Dr. Barry's boy Josh play in his Middle School concert. He's a budding trombone player, and emails and Facebooks (tm) me all the time. He's thrilled I'm coming to watch him play, and I'm thrilled he's asked me to go.

Next week, Dr. Eric's boy Josh is playing golf at Doral, in a youth tournament, and I plan to go watch him there. Josh is his school's best golfer, and also a cracker jack student. I can't wait to see where his life takes him.

D1 is always so impressed when she visits Barry. His Peds residents love him, and D1 loves being around large groups of very smart people. She just finished her first semester of grad school, but I'm going to guess that she's going to end up working at UM/Jackson somehow.

And then I can have lunch with her and Dr. Barry. Wouldn't that be grand?