OTLA Trial Lawyer Fall 2021

2 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2021 By Lara Johnson OTLA Guardian L ate in March 2020, as the country was coming to grips with the pan- demic, my mother came down with the flu. As an asthma sufferer, she sometimes struggled to breathe, but this time was different. At the hospital, my family gathered in the ICU in masks and gowns, The root of compassion listened to the updates from the nurses and doctors, and hoped for a recovery. Together, we talked about the Texas farmer’s daughter, the first person in her family to go to college, the person who rarely said an unkind word about anyone. We told her we loved her. Then, after several days in the ICU, she passed away. Losing my mother gave me pause these past months to reflect on the lessons my parents taught me about the values of compassion, caring, hard work and perseverance. I reflect on these now as I assume the post of your president. Lessons from my parents My mother was an advocate for her daughters. When I was young, she re- turned to school to update her nursing credentials. She returned to work spe- cifically to help my sister and me pay for college. She wanted us to have opportu- nities she did not have. She wanted us to be financially independent, to have our own professional careers and to be able to choose to live life as we wished. She also taught us self-advocacy. “Ask for what you want,” she would tell us. “The answer may surprise you.” My mother and father both looked outside of themselves to the needs of the larger community and encouraged that in us. One story my mother liked to tell was about when we were living on an Air Force base in Brindisi, Italy. As a small child, I took fluoride from our family medicine cabinet and brought it to the Italian farmers living outside the base. Instead of punishing me, my mother praised me for wanting to help others. My parents grew up with very little and understood how it felt to be under- estimated, to be treated as less than oth- ers. It was likely the root of their compas- sion and the lessons they taught us. My father was a strong student in high school. He was student body president and would graduate summa cum laude . The high school vice-principal, however, saw him only as a student from a poor family. He called my dad’s parents to specifically tell them my dad should set his sights on factory work, instead of college. My father went on to graduate from college and medical school. In his medical practice, my dad cared for working class Oregonians, patients who were affected by the shuttered lumber mills and high rates of unemploy- ment. He never turned down patients for lack of money. He brought home jams, jellies and flats of berries as payments. Our family once enjoyed a guided river trip in return for his years of care to the guide’s children. On the path By the time I graduated from high school, I was ready to see a broader world. I enrolled at McGill University in Mon- treal. I was active in the debate team, and President’s Message Lara Johnson