This was my mom’s law firm: Venerable Area Law Firm Tyler Cooper Closing (article in the Hartford Courant)

Her practice is getting merged into an expanding Providence/Boston firm. As with many things in Hartford, you can be wildly successful, but you can never really compete with Boston or New York.

My mom started her career as an attorney in crowded government offices and end up in a corner office atop Hartford’s tallest skyscraper. Here are some of the things I remember: Once I got my license, I dropped her off at work sometimes to have the car after school. When I was a little older and came home to visit, we’d meet for lunch at the restaurant downstairs where important business people made deals (or whatever they do) over San Pellegrino. And, of course, we watched July 4th fireworks looking down at them from the 35th floor. I think I was exposed earlier than most of my peers were to working downtown, interacting with grown-up professionals, and to a little bit of how decisions are actually made in the business world, and this has given me a little more comfort with making grown-up decisions in my own life.