Judy in The Long and Winding Road

I just learned that an attorney I worked for back in the 1990’s, passed away of cancer. She had just turned 65.

Judy was a huge influence on me and my life. I was in my mid-thirties when I went to work for her and her partner in crime at the time, Deborah. I was a legal secretary, having worked my way up through several law firms before landing with Judy. She was the first woman attorney I had ever worked for. I can’t tell you how much I loved working with Judy. She was fun, she was fair, she was strong and assertive and kind. She was so good to me. Sometimes there would be an afternoon where she gathered up documents that we had to review, and she’d say “Let’s go”, and off we’d go to the lobby of a nice hotel, where we’d find a conference area and she would order a bottle of champagne for us.

On special occasions she would take me to Commander’s Palace for lunch.

Judy gave me my very first cell phone. It was the dawn of the cell phone age, nobody had phones and we certainly didn’t keep in touch that way. But Judy got a phone, and found other progressive peers with which to exchange phone calls! I was so envious, and she knew it. And then when she upgraded her own phone, she gave me hers. A big solid brick of a phone. I had almost nobody to call, but I sure loved having that phone.

Judy became pregnant with her second child while I was working with her. Together we got through her demanding clients and her burgeoning belly and fatigue. I still remember visiting her in the hospital when her 2nd son was born.

Not long after that, she hired my daughter Sarah to help out at the house for the summer. Sarah has strong, happy, positive memories of her time chatting with Judy, and caring for the boys.

We had so many adventures together in the course of our work, not the least of which was our middle of the night hauling away of Judy’s files to move to the new firm she had joined. Every Mardi Gras I think of Judy on the day before Fat Tuesday, because we would spend the day picking up about 36 King Cake’s (from Randazzo’s, of course) and spreading them out on a conference room table to load each one into a Fed Ex box to send overnight to clients who would have to deal with our office being closed the next day.

Judy always wore a navy or black skirt, a white blouse, and a red blazer to court. She said “Red is a power color.”

As I said earlier, Judy was a really big influence on me. She taught me that we are strong, that I am strong. Stronger than I even knew I was. She taught me to speak up, to assert myself, to not let people push me around.

I am really sad about her passing. I don’t know why I deserve to live longer than so many people I love, respect, and admire. But I’m grateful for every day. And to end this on a happier note...... when I left New Orleans and my job with Judy, to move to Seattle, she went way more than an extra mile to make my departure memorable. I was given an album full of picture of co-workers, my desk, and very funny comments throughout. Our entire team at the law firm joined in a Second Line parade for me to a restaurant where Judy had reserved a private room for us.

This is a photo that is in the album they gave me. The caption is a reference to the way I would kind of sarcastically say “How may I serve you, Ms. G?” when being summoned to her office.

At the end of the luncheon, everyone at the table took lipstick cases out of their purses and began applying lipstick, an ode to the fact that, to this day, I do that after a meal. Here is Judy doing an exaggerated imitation of me

It’s been a long time since Judy and I were in touch. I am so sorry that her life has been taken. I hope her journey through cancer wasn’t too too bad. I hope she is at peace.

Love to you, Judy.