Years ago, I missed my firstborn’s birth. My client had an emergency guardianship hearing involving financial predation of their aunt, who was so far gone she was stuffing contact lenses into her eyes until they bled.
We get our time in when we can: homework, dinner, bedtime routine, trips to the grocery store, music lessons, day camps, friend dates to the falls or the hippie parks.
But my relationship with the law took that moment away forever.
I am not complaining: I work in the information economy in the United States of America with a mostly functional family–there is nothing to complain about and much to thank God for.
But this loss has taught me to always look for opportunities to spend more time with family.