In Memoriam, Luther Mitchell
So often I’ll have domestic clients who, upon our first meeting, say they believe their spouse is cheating. I’ll look into their case and more often than not, the client is correct in their assumption. What is it that draws someone into an affair? Many times a person tempted to cheat thinks life on the other side of the proverbial fence looks better or more exciting, so they “jump the fence” and give this new experience a try.
Until his passing a few years ago, my good friend, Luther Mitchell, was in a retirement home. I used to drop by and see him a few times a week and Luther always wanted to work on his memory. We would memorize lists like the names of the presidents, their dates of office, their wives’ names their vice presidents. Once we ran out of presidential material, we moved on to The Gettysburg Address. After about an hour of this, Luther would share thoughts and stories about [his] “good old days.” Spending time with Luther was always a two part meeting; he first wanted to keep his mind sharp by memorizing trivia then he wanted to share stories and relive the past.
I could spend the next year only blogging about all the things Luther taught me but I will just relay to you the last conversation we had before he passed. On that day, I had come over and we studied the Gettysburg Address for about an hour then he asked about my day. I went on to tell him yet another tale of how I had worked a case where I followed someone’s spouse from work at lunchtime and caught him in the arms of someone other than his wife. I told the whole sordid story; how I followed the man, took pictures of him with another woman, documented his illicit activities and finally, informing the client.
After I’d told the story, Luther looked me in the eyes and said, “You know what’s wrong with your generation?” I said, “No, what?” Luther went on to say, “Your generation never sticks anything out. They all think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.” As I was thinking about this, Luther asked me, “Do you know why the grass is greener on the other side of the fence?” Before I could answer, Luther followed up with, “Because the man on the other side is tending to his lawn.”
Short, sweet and to the point, there it is, all summed up in a sort of bumper sticker philosophy.
Thank you Luther, for all the things you taught me over the years and thank you for the peek into the wisdom that only old age can bring.
