09/20/2020
In 1980 (ish), my late father said that women couldn’t be lawyers. The Sandra Day O’Conner became a Supreme Court justice. My father was old-fashioned but not mean or anti-woman; it’s just how things were. In 1993, this tiny Jewish woman became the second female justice on the United States Supreme Court. I was in law school at the time and RBG’s personal history spoke to me in a way I can barely describe. My husband and I took turns with our education — college, law school and his grad school. We have been partners as we both have been able to have careers we love. When I started law school, I had three kids under the age of 7. After law school, as I was building my practice and actively in court and writing appeals and representing clients, we would have two more kids.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg ALWAYS inspired me!!! She went to law school as a mother and her husband had cancer. There was always the partnership. She said it was permissible for a woman to break the glass ceilings that prevented firms from allowing a woman to argue in front of the Supreme Court. She had a family, she had illnesses and she persisted. Her passing on Friday night crushed me. I started crying — something I rarely do — and it took me hours to stop. Many women, and women lawyers in particular, are where we are by standing on RVG’s tiny shoulders. As small as she was in stature, she left an enormous footprint (thank you Senator Klobuchar for those exact words... they touched me greatly and articulated how I felt).
May she rest in power and peace. We’ve got this, Ruth.
