Tuesday, March 4, 2008

What I Learned ...from the law


Robert Hruzek's writing challenge this month at New Middle Zone Musings is: what I have learned from the law.

I honestly don't know what to write about with regards to this challenge because I have had little cause to think much about the law, especially in a personal context. There was the time I had to rescue my son from the police station for being a mischievous teenager but apart from that, my family is very law abiding.

So I am going to be a little rebellious and change the title to: what I have learned from lawyers.

A few years ago I was privileged to become involved with an amateur dramatic production. The play was called "Jerusalem, Jerusalem" and was about a renown New Zealand poet called J.K.Baxter. It was written by Mike Riddell and directed by his wife, Rosemary who is now a family judge in the North Island. I played the part of a middle aged woman who had lived in the commune with Baxter as a young woman. I had never acted before.

I had always thought that lawyers were stern, cold people but Rosemary is the exact opposite. She is warm, funny, incredibly articulate and caring. More than anything she taught me that I had to follow my dream and that I was capable of doing what I had always dreamed of...acting. She gave me confidence and made me believe in myself. Whilst I haven't done any acting since, I will always be grateful to her because she gave me the chance to fulfill one of my life's ambitions.

Thank you, Rosemary.

The significance of the photo is that Baxter had his commune 'Jerusalem' by the side of the Whanganui River, New Zealand.

Image: 'Whanganui River'
www.flickr.com/photos/27726934@N00/398536900

6 comments:

Robert Hruzek said...

What a great legacy your friend left with you, Sarah! Amazing, isn't it - that literally anyone can be as human as the next?

By the way, that is a beautiful place! I can easily picture myself in one of those canoes...

Thanks for participating in WILF this month!

Sarah Stewart said...

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to remember a wonderful time of my life, although I must admit I did have a little cry because in some ways I have never hit that pinnacle of absolutely personal self-completion since.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful post! We all need someone like that to come into our lives and buoy us up sometimes, don't we?
Amy
xx

Sarah Stewart said...

Yes you're right, Amy. It is very rare these days to meet someone who is as generous as Rosemary is in the way she gives of herself.

Jackie Cameron said...

I loved this story - thanks for sharing Sarah. I also love New Zealand and on our next trip we will definitely visit Dunedin - which shares a ( historic) name with my own home town of Edinburgh.
Jackie

Sarah Stewart said...

Thanks for that, Jackie. Dunedin is a lovely place and reminds me very much of Dundee. I'm sure you would love it here.