A Fighting Chance (44 page)

I was crazy about my middle brother, John, and very happy when he was home for Christmas just before he was sent to Africa.

Debate was the one thing I could do well—fight smart, fight hard. My partner and I won the Oklahoma state championship, and I got a scholarship to college.

College was a dream come true, and I loved attending George Washington University. I made nearly all my clothes, including this blue velvet number.

Jim Warren was the first boy I’d ever dated, and when he came back into my life after my sophomore year, I dropped out of college to marry him. I was nineteen.

Amelia arrived when I was twenty-two; I was amazed that this perfect little creature was now part of my life.

Amelia and I were buddies who ventured out together to explore the world. I went to the state law school near our home in New Jersey. When I graduated, I was very pregnant and thought I might melt in the blistering sun. Once Alex was born, I hung out a shingle and practiced law out of my living room.

Still in braces and taking care of Amelia and baby Alex, I eventually got a job teaching law school. That was tough to manage, but Aunt Bee moved to Houston to help. Even so, Jim and I were headed for divorce.

Teaching law school was the most fun in the world; I even liked grading papers. Bruce and I got married and toasted to a new life. As two young law professors, we spent years teaching at different universities around the country.

My three handsome brothers—Don Reed, John, and David—posed with their baby sister at Thanksgiving in 1980.

Alex was a Boston Celtics fan from early on, which made Christmas shopping easy. In 1996, family dinners expanded when Amelia came home from grad school with her husband-to-be, Sushil.