What Having Brain Surgery Taught Me About Being a Parent. And About Practicing Law. (Part 1)

In 2019, a recurring twitch in my left eye went from annoying to concerning as it spread to the entire left side of my face. Over the next two years I saw a variety of specialists until I was diagnosed with a rare nerve disorder called hemi-facial spasm. The only cure is surgery. So in 2021 I met with the neurosurgery team at Johns Hopkins and on January 13, 2022, had the procedure. It was my first surgery and it was a doozy, but I’m happy to say that it was a success. My face is back to normal, I have a gnarly scar that I can show off, and I even learned a thing or two about myself in the process.

We Need to Talk. About Death.

As my surgery date approached and I was forced to consider the risks involved, something that my husband and I had been putting off for years loomed large - we didn’t have wills or any basic planning documents in place. It had been on our to-do list since our first child was born. Twelve. Years. Ago. Here I was, an attorney at a trusts and estates firm, married to another attorney, and we didn’t have our own planning done. It was embarrassing. And also, it had me thinking - why is this so hard? The answer was obvious. We didn’t want to think about it, so it was easy to avoid. As parents, we owe it to our kids to do better at facing these tough conversations. And as attorneys, we need to do better at making the process accessible and easy. With these goals in mind, I am setting out to create a small firm that approaches planning in a way that can meet today’s busy parents where they are, help them understand the importance of good planning, and make it easy to achieve.