Incidentally

Or COincidentally

My mom calls me not long after my previous post. She explains to me a bad situation her friend is in, and what, in my legal opinion, her friend should do. My legal gut told me several things, and as I'm on the phone with her, I start doing some quick research on the net and give her a preliminary answer.

Basically, I told my mom, her friend should be okay.

After talking to her for about half an hour, she said "Thank you. I'll tell my friend."

Then she added, "After your dad passed away, I feel so much more secure knowing that you're a lawyer."

"Oh," I said, not really knowing how to respond.

"I have taken on some of dad's financial matters after he passed away," she said, "and these guys think they can pull one on me because they think I'm an unsophisticated, immigrant, Yellow widow. But when I tell them my daughter is a lawyer, they back off."

I half-laughed. "Seriously? Just like that?"

"I don't just say it in the beginning. But when I suspect they're up to something, I tell them, 'I know what you're trying to do, and I know that's not right. I know this, because my daughter is a lawyer.' Then they look at me and say, 'Your daughter is a l-l-lll-lawyer??' and I say 'Yes.' Then they back off."

"How funny."

She continued, "So I am grateful that you are a lawyer. And I'm proud of you."

"Oh," I said, again not really knowing how to respond.

So in that brief moment -- when my mom's friend was in a fix and I figured out a quick legal answer to her problem; and my mother dropped the L-bomb on my dad's former business associates and they stopped trying to pull a fast one on her -- I did feel a spark of something. Purpose? Usefulness? A feeling that I'm helping someone deserving?

I don't know. It was small...but it was something.