Happy Valentine’s Day! How many of us gave the gift of travel or planned a getaway for this romantic holiday?

When we think of where we’d like to travel with our loved ones, many of us take into consideration the common interests that we both share.   If both of you are foodies, you might want to head off  for a culinary experience. If you both like to relax on a beach, you might want to travel to a sunny resort.

Well, a couple of years ago, I decided to plan a trip that would have some meaning to my husband, Robert, and myself.   Robert and I are both lawyers who each come from a family of lawyers.  So while a cooking vacation in some far away land might have been fun, I, instead, organized  a trip to Washington D.C. so that I could sponsor Robert for his admission to the United States Supreme Court.

Before we could even pick a date, Robert needed to meet the necessary requirements which included submitting a certificate of good standing as an attorney and providing the supporting signatures of two attorneys who had already been admitted to this Court.   I had been admitted to the United States Supreme Court years before, but I was disqualified from providing my signature because I was related to Robert by marriage.

As we got closer to the time to go,  I became concerned that there were some special words that I needed to say as I stood before the justices of this court. I’d argued cases  in our state’s higher court, the Appellate Division, and before I’d launched into my argument, I’d said the traditional preamble “May it please the Court.”  Was there a set introduction that I had to say there as well?

So I called the Court to find out how to prepare for this big event. “Don’t worry,” was the response from one of the clerks. Before I stood up I would receive instructions as to pretty much exactly what I would be saying. And don’t even think about deviating from it.

Early that morning we walked from our hotel to the Court House.

Waiting with us were a collection of attorneys including a lawyer from Tennessee who was being sponsored by his congressman and a group of military lawyers.

When it was my turn, I stood before Chief Justice Roberts who smiled at me as Robert rose from his seat. I read my short printed speech, and I requested that my husband be admitted to practice law before the highest court in our country.

It was a great experience.