Better Late Than Never

I never have been the "first on my block" to find out about or to do anything. And being naturally independent and rebellious, I seldom was one for jumping onto anybody's bandwagon, if for no other reason than to avoid being called a "Johnny-come-lately".

But there are certain fads and trends that I simply have been unable to side-step, foremost among them during my lifetime has been the personal computer and the Internet.

When I began my journalism career, I wrote news stories on an old-fashioned Royal typewriter. When my newspaper employer entered the electronic age and installed IBM Selectric typewriters, I purchased my old Royal for $25.00. I still have it (almost 40 years later), and it is still in good working condition. I had begun my legal career before my newspaper moved to the next level of technology by installing word processing.

At the dawn of my legal career, lawyers conducted legal research among the thousands of volumes of books and treatises in a law library, which at most firms required a full-time law librarian just to keep the constant supply of supplemental material current. Now, legal research is performed online, and many more resources are available from online legal libraries than what ever could have been maintained in even the most extensive traditional law library.

In addition, our legal secretaries were required to type our pleadings, correspondence and other documents on electric typewriters, some of which were equipped with "mag-cards" for those documents with established templates requiring only that the blanks be filled in. After a couple of years, the firm where I was employed as a young associate purchased word processors, and from that point the days of carbon paper and clicking typewriters going at 120+ words per minute were numbered.

In 1985, when I first opened my own law practice, I purchased my first computer (for almost $7,000.00), to be used exclusively by my secretary for word processing purposes, because word processing was about the only function that the computer had and certainly was the only function anyone in my office knew how to access and operate.

By the late 1980s, personal computers became more affordable, and the Internet began to gain some traction. A couple of young men, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, had begun development of software programs and operating systems that ultimately would make cyberspace and computer operations available to everyone - even me.

Fast-forwarding to 2012, I can say only that the past 30 years have been a technological whirlwind. Internet advertising and marketing have moved to the forefront for nearly every service industry in the country. Social media sites are beginning to play a huge role in the marketing of goods and services. The development of IP services able to transmit voice and image, such as Skype, have brought distant friends and family closer together. Thanks to this technology, I don't have to wait months (or sometimes years) before seeing two of my grandchildren who currently are residing in Korea and who will be moving to Eastern Europe this summer.

But the technological revolution has had a darker side, as well. New crimes, scams and other fraudulent activities have found a home on the Internet. Identity theft has become a major problem, and an entirely new industry has been developed to provide protection against it.

My wife is fond of saying that I was dragged into the 20th century kicking and screaming, but not before the beginning of the 21st century. I am just now getting used to the 20th century, but I hope to see you all soon in the 21st century.

Beam me up, Scotty.

More Than Just a Name

I have been known by many names.

My wife and step-daughter call me "Bear", probably because of my ability to grow a lot of hair everywhere except on my head. My daughters call me "Daddy". My golfing buddies call me "The Weave". My brothers call me "Bub" or "Bubba", and my mother calls me "Son". Some of my social and business friends call me "R. David", while others call me simply "David". Most of my clients refer to me as either "Mr. Weaver" or "Attorney Weaver", and in a couple of cases, "Dr. Weaver" (after all, most lawyers do hold doctoral degrees, although we seldom use the title).

But the widest variety of names by which I have been called has originated with my grandchildren. I remember that before my grandson was born almost 14 years ago, I gave considerable thought to how I would like for him to refer to me. Having never arrived at a final decision, I simply allowed him to call me whatever he chose to call me, and I have followed that tradition with all of my grandchildren who came after him. As a result, I have been known by names ranging from "Pop-Paw" to "BamPaw" to "Gamp-Paw" to "Grandpa".

Coming from the mouths of my grandchildren, the words are music to my ears, regardless of the name by which they call me.

The name by which others refer to us is one of the most important ingredients of what constitutes our own self-image. Hence, when we engage in "name-calling" of our enemies or opponents, we are engaging in a form of combat designed to injure that person's image of himself.

Our names are of critical importance to us. Being a former journalist, I learned firsthand how folks react when their names are misspelled in public media. It is an old saying and an axiom among publicist: "Say what you may about me, but be sure to spell my name correctly."

Moreover, a good name logically suggests a good reputation. History is replete with examples of those who have gone to great lengths to protect or restore their good names (and, hence, their reputations).

Clearly, a name is more than a label. The names by which we are known say much about who we are, what we do and the relationships we have with our fellows. And although we all are a single person, the names we are called reflect that we are people of many characteristics, traits, relationships and abilities.

Happy New Year - One Day at a Time

Ah, the New Year. It's that arbitrarily selected day on the calendar when we all feel like we are getting a fresh start. A time when we can put the past behind us and begin anew, hoping to avoid the mistakes of the previous 12 months by resolving to do better. But the problem with New Year's resolutions is that they require us to change our behaviors in order to accomplish those things we have resolved to accomplish. And researchers tell us that up to 90 percent of the resolutions we make on New Year's Day have been abandoned before the end of January.

What if every day was New Year's Day? What if, every time we wake up in the morning, we can have the sensation of a new beginning that the new day brings that encourages us to learn from the previous day's mistakes, put them behind us and then resolve not to repeat them just for the day ahead?

As a poker player, most of the serious mistakes I have seen made by players (and at times have made, myself) occur when a player who has been losing tries to "get even". This impulse will cause a player to make unprofitable decisions, usually resulting in increasing his losses and resulting in still poorer play in later hands. One of the world's best poker players once provided me with a valuable suggestion to avoid falling victim to this downward spiral. He said, "Remember, you are even at the beginning of each hand that is dealt. Every hand is a new game, and what happened before that is history."

The same can be said in every area of my life, whether professional, personal or financial. Although there certainly are consequences that must be faced and endured as a result of my mistakes, those consequences and the mistakes of the past that led to them do not have to negatively affect the way in which I conduct myself today.

If I have a New Year's resolution to make, it is that I resolve to treat every new day as if it is New Year's Day. I will try to learn from my past mistakes, and more importantly, I will try to remember that if I continue to do what I always have done, I will get what I always have gotten. And if I want to achieve a different result (whether it's losing weight, acquiring more wealth, becoming a better person, etc.), I cannot succeed unless I do something different. With the beginning of each day, I have a chance to try something new in order to achieve what I want to achieve.

With that in mind, I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year, and more to the point, have a Happy New Day!

Making Christmas Memories

I love the Christmas season. As the old song goes, "it's the most wonderful time of the year!"

This has been an especially joyous Christmas, as I welcomed my eighth grandchild on November 7. Our youngest daughter, Mandy, came home from Korea (where my son-in-law works for the U.S. State Department) in September to have the baby, and we have had the pleasure of having her (along with the baby and the 20-month-old "big sister") staying with us. I will be very sad to see them leave on New Year's Eve, although I know that they are anxious to get back to their own home.

Our neighborhood is awash in Christmas lights and decorations, and the annual parade of cars driving through the neighborhood to view the sights has begun. I am almost through with my Christmas shopping, and we have just begun wrapping the gifts. And I am beside myself with excitement and anticipation of our Christmas celebration this weekend with all four of my daughters and all eight of my grandchildren.

Normally, I don't like crowds and I detest shopping, but I always seem to get carried away by the Christmas spirit when shopping with my wife for Christmas gifts. I love the hustle and bustle of the season and the sights and smells that are uniquely connected with Christmas.

There are some who might be expecting me to insert at this point a reminder of the "real meaning of Christmas". But I am going to leave that task to others. It seems as though those who would presume to remind us of the "true meaning of Christmas" would prefer that we temper our celebration of the season, suggesting that the joy we experience in the shopping, decorating and gift giving is somehow unseemly or in some way disregards the "reason for the season".

Christmas is a time of celebration. It is a time for me to be grateful for my family, friends, colleagues and clients. And it is a time for me to celebrate the greatest gift the world has ever known -- the birth of Christ.

It truly is "the most wonderful time of the year!"

Becoming a Better Lawyer

I just had a birthday. In my younger days, my birthday was cause for celebration of what I believed would be an exciting future. However, I recently have begun to use the occasion to reflect upon my past and the many turning points in my life, all culminating in the who and what I have come to be. Although I still look to an exciting future still to be experienced, I do so with greater circumspection, realizing that I cannot disregard or dismiss my past if I am to fully engage in my future.

My law school dean and mentor, the late and legendary Angus S. McSwain, once said that human character is built up of the innumerable and apparently insignificant choices a person must make in the course of a lifetime. "It is not the work of a minute, or a week, or a year," he said. "The going is rough. But every day, as we make decisions that seem small and unimportant, we are fitting together the pieces of the pattern which will show the picture of our real self."

As I reflect upon those choices that I have made in my life which seemed at the time to be small and insignificant, the result of their cumulative effect is humbling, and I am bound to acknowledge the fact that God has used my choices - even those improvidently and unwisely made - to place me in a position to be of service to Him and to His people. And I must admit that I never intended to design a plan for my life that would place me in the position in which I now find myself. My plan was to create for myself a certain level of financial security. Rich and famous would have been nice, but I was willing to settle for "comfortable". The thought of being of any meaningful service to God and to His people never entered my mind.

When I decided that I would become a lawyer, I labored under the common misconception that all lawyers are wealthy, and although many of us earn above-average incomes, the truth is that lawyers are no different from most people who are trying to make a living. Although I have been blessed with what some might call "success" in my career, I have undergone many of the same struggles experienced by many others - mostly due to my many improvident and unwise decisions that I previously mentioned.

The miracle is that the struggles I have experienced have been the instrument by which I discovered that there is more to life than acquiring wealth and financial security. That is not to say that financial security is an unworthy goal. Instead, my quest for it must be tempered by my acknowledgment of the fact that I am under a greater obligation to seek and do what I believe God would have me do, and that performing His work should be my first priority. And when my priorities are properly placed, I find fulfillment that transcends any financial security that I might achieve through the accumulation of wealth.

I must admit that I still struggle with the almost overpowering compulsion to try to increase my own wealth. But as the birthdays come and go, and as these times of reflection are put to good use, I am becoming much better at recognizing and doing that which I am called to do, and as I improve upon that, I become a much better lawyer.

R. David Weaver

October Baseball in Texas!

College and professional football have made their customary annual Fall invasion upon the television screen, but I have not forgotten that there is another game in town -- Playoff Baseball. Regardless of how the Rangers fare this post-season, they still are my team, just as they have been my team since arriving here in 1972.

I last held season tickets to the Rangers in the late 1980s at old Arlington Stadium, but I found that I was unable to attend all of the home games, myself, and during those years, tickets to the Rangers games were not easy to give away. Now, with the Rangers in their "new" Ballpark, season tickets are a luxury that I just cannot afford!

Fortunately, I have some very good friends who have access to tickets (season and otherwise), and, knowing my fondness of the game, they generously provide me with seats to enough games each year to keep my baseball addiction in check. One of my good friends even made it possible for me to attend the second home playoff game on October 1 against Tampa Bay.

For next year, I am seriously considering looking into one of the multi-game packages that the Rangers began offering some time ago, but even at that, the investment will be rather substantial, and I likely would have to curtail some of my other "recreational expenses" to afford it.

Generous friends who have shared their tickets with me, and the fact that I have a business that affords me the chance to at least consider purchasing a season package (albeit a "mini-package"), cause me to pause and be grateful for the blessings that I have been given.

So today, I give thanks to God, to my family and to my special friends for bestowing upon me so many of the blessings that now shape and form the fabric of my life.

GO RANGERS!

Saying "Goodbye" is Never Easy

I was once told by Al Dewlen, an award winning and best selling novelist, that a writer must have something worthwhile to say before he sets pen to paper and commences to write. Over the years, he told me many things -- mostly useful and often hilarious.

Early yesterday morning, this remarkable man -- who happened to be my stepdad -- died.

So, after many months of not posting on this forum, I finally have something to say. But what I have to say is very difficult, because it is my farewell to a man who has meant so much to my mother, to me and to my family.

I could begin my farewell by reciting his literary works, including those best-sellers that were made into major motion pictures during the early sixties.

Or, I could mention the heroic death of his son and my step-brother, Marine Lt. Michael Dewlen, which spawned his widely read and courageous Reader's Digest feature article that led to some of the most horrific and debased hate mail that a writer ever received.

I could mention his own service in the Marine Corps during World War II, when he and four other of his fellow Marines were charged with supervising 30,000 Japanese soldiers who had surrendered in China, and about how he spent more than two years in the Pacific Theater during the war without sleeping a single night indoors.

And, for the first time, I could mention his meritorious service with the Central Intelligence Agency and for which he was awarded one of the highest honors given by that institution.

I could talk about his early newspaper career, when he oversaw the growth of the daily newspaper in Amarillo from a publication with a very small circulation to one of the most influential newspapers in the state.

I could mention his devotion to Baylor University (my own alma mater), and speak of the generous monetary contributions that he made to the school and its athletic programs. To say how much would be bragging, so I will defer, as he would have wished.

But all of that is the stuff for a newspaper article reporting the passing of a public figure. This is personal. Even though I am no spring chicken, myself, I have lost my stepdad, and I loved, admired and respected him.

Some years ago, Al met my widowed mother on a blind date. And although they were mature, level-headed people, they almost immediately fell in love, and within three weeks they were married. I never before saw couple so much in love. And they did everything together. My daughter, Erin, described the relationship better than perhaps I could describe it. She said, "Al and grandma were soul mates." And indeed they were.

With no disrespect toward any of their former spouses, including my own father, I believe that I can say with some confidence that Al and my mother shared a love, companionship and mutual respect that they never before had experienced with anyone else.

And so, with the fondest of memories that will remain with me for the rest of my life, I now say, "Farewell, Dad."