I Hope I Make You Proud

The photo for this article is one of only two in my possession of my paternal Grandfather. He is the taller one in the back row. I also have as my LinkedIn background, his admission to the Southern District of New York from 1928. He immigrated from Sicily with my Great-grandfather, who was a shoe maker and is also pictured above.

The story goes that they came over, just the two of them when he was still a boy around 1910, and worked to bring the rest of the family over. My Great-uncle Ray (pictured with his hands on my Great-grandfather's knee) was the first one of my Father's family born in the United States. My Grandfather went on to become a very successful attorney in NY, and start a law firm Tese & Tese, along with his younger Brother, Ray. He died before I was born, but I saw my Great-uncle Ray three days before he passed away in 2002 right after I found out I had gotten accepted to law school.

The first thing he said to me (aside from a joke that I can't repeat here) was that my Grandfather would be proud that I was continuing his legacy. I never met my Grandfather, but by all accounts he was a great Father, a great lawyer and a great person. I didn't think of it much when Ray said it, but I remember the feeling of pride that I felt when I gave my first opening argument in court. I actually felt like he was there with me and proud. Twelve years, and many arguments later, I wonder sometimes if he would still be proud. I hope so.

I love my chosen profession, but don't get it twisted; the law is a grind. I do what I do because it pays the bills for my family. My children are everything to me. I hope one day my issue will talk about me the way my family spoke about him. Some days I would rather do something else. But every once in a while, something happens in my career where I feel like my Grandfather would be proud, and that keeps me going.

I don't know if I'm as good of a Father as he was. I'm pretty sure I'm not as good of a lawyer. And I'm still working to be a better person. I also know that I'm extremely fortunate to have two living parents that let me know they are proud of me whenever they are sensing I'm down. But I still often wonder if my Grandfather was around whether I would make him proud. I hope I honor him with the way I conduct myself and that I would make him proud.