The nicest ones have been from my kids about the fact that they think I’m a great mom and admire me as a person. Those mean the world to me, of course, but there is one that just happened very recently and is extraordinary because of the circumstances involved.
This very special compliment involves a client who is considered legendary in the music industry and who is terminally ill. I came with my boss who is also his close friend to his home to notarize his estate planning documents. I had been there once before and he’d been extremely kind to me and had someone in his household give me the tour of his home, which includes a recording studio where many famous albums were recorded and lots of memorabilia is on display. He also signed a DVD of a documentary made about him for me.
This time my boss had gone over ahead of me with the two witnesses (both relatively famous musicians). When I arrived, as I walked in the room the client began to serenade me and the two witnesses spontaneously joined on the harmony. The song is well known and (I can’t name it because it would give my client’s identity away) it describes a beautiful woman with physical characteristics I have. I stopped dead in my tracks because it was beautiful and so sweet. Even now, his voice is incredible and it was such a moment. When we finished and I was leaving, he serenaded me back out of the room the same way. This man is old and so very sick, but it was a great compliment to me (and to his legendary and undiminished charm) that he felt inspired to sing to me that way. He sang it again recently at an all star tribute to him put on by the music industry, but that day, he sang it to me and I’ll never ever forget it.
when he passes, which I wish would be a long time from now, but am afraid won’t, I might consider sharing the song. It’s not that I don’t want to tell, because I do. However, while our representation of him is not a secret whatsoever nor is his medical condition, my firm is so small that my privacy would be at risk if I said who he is. It would reveal exactly where and who I work for.