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I have been working as my mother’s assistant. Yeah, I am a tiny bit embarrassed to have a law degree and work as an assistant instead. I shouldn’t care because I chose this. I truly wanted to be at home with the kids for the past ten years. I remember being five months pregnant with Jack in my last year of law school. I went to school and then drove to a law firm to work as a clerk. I picked up Daphne from daycare every evening after dark. I was so tired and miserable. I never liked any of my legal jobs. I probably should have looked into this before I applied to law school.

Anyway, I had come this far and I wasn’t about to quit school. Because I was pregnant, I felt very emotional. Claud and I put Daphne in her bed to sleep and sat outside under the stars to talk. I told him how my day went at work. I had no enthusiasm. I disliked my boss even though she offered me a very good salary to stay after I passed the bar. I dreaded coming there day after day for eternity. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I didn’t feel like I had options. I never considered quitting. My whole life was school and work. So, when Claud grabbed my hands in his and looked me in the eyes and calmly said, “Wendy, what do you really want to do? If you had your choice to do anything in the world, what would it be?” My eyes widened and I was taken aback. I could do anything at all? I told him I wanted to be home with the kids. It surprised me as the words came out.

Even now, I wouldn’t take a full time job because I like to be with them when they come home from school. My mom is a different story and has always worked very hard at whatever she does. My mom has always had a knack for selling. First she sold cars in her teens and twenties. Then, she sold plants at her nursery until she was in her thirties. Now, she sells houses. I am a good assistant, but I am not nearly as driven as my mom when it comes to real estate.  I don’t know how she does it. She takes families to see so many houses and sometimes has to go back two or three times again while they make a decision. Sometimes they decide not to buy a house at all. Are you kidding me? This would drive me nuts.