I grew up thinking that I would be a lawyer some day. My father is a lawyer and despite my mom’s professional success, she always said her one regret was never getting her law degree. Needless to say, I figured that I was destined for the courtroom and a lifetime of billable hours and serving clients. Then one Labor Day weekend in 1998, my husband of only two months and I made a life-altering decision. I was studying for the LSAT exams and started reviewing the law school application essay questions on topics ranging from the most daring thing I had ever done in my life to why I wanted to be a lawyer. In a sincere effort to answer these questions, it became clear to me that although the act of going through law school might be something I would actually enjoy, I did not really want to be a legal professional. This game changing discussion with my new husband was punctuated by the following question he asked of me:
“Why would you rush through law school to finish by the time you are 27 and then spend years banking hours for some arbitrary point in time when you can finally justify having a child?” Is this a rhetorical question or what? In any case, my husband was illuminating a reality that I was afraid to face because it required me to test every preconceived notion I had about my adult life. For the first time the stakes were getting higher. Two lives would be impacted by my decisions and these decisions now came with serious financial implications. It was time to face the fact that I was not inspired by the idea of practicing law, but I was drawn to parenthood at this stage in my life.
I never imagined having children early in my professional life. In fact, I distinctly remember thinking that I might never have children. I have always been driven to make the world a better place – to leave my mark on the world and I never dreamed that mark might be raising outstanding children. When I started honestly wrestling with career choices outside the secure confines of college life, all I knew was that I had to earn a living. I had no idea where I really wanted to focus my professional energy so I turned to the women in my life. Both my mother and my mother-in-law hit their professional strides as their children grew. Maybe it was not so absurd to have children relatively early in my adult life while I was struggling to figure out what other marks I might make?
Ultimately, soon after that fateful weekend, we decided to try and have a family. Only five months later, we discovered we were expecting our first child, Elle. Two years later we welcomed Annah. Four years later we welcomed Caraline. And six years later we welcomed William into what is now an overflowing family.
Ironically, my professional interests galvanized somewhere in the middle of those early parenting years. I look forward to sharing more with you about the work I enjoy outside of my home, but this is a fitting place to start. The odyssey that is parenthood began for us on that long Labor Day weekend. We have labored in ways we could never have imagined back then, but now it is impossible to see life any other way.
Did you know?
- My husband has been in my life for almost 20 years and we have been married for more than eleven.
- We have four children together.
- My children are lucky to have lots of people in their lives who love them like crazy.
- I have two younger sisters.
- I am fortunate to have close extended family and we all come together for every holiday and for breakfast almost every Sunday.
- My parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
- I grew up in one community and went through the same school district from Kindergarten through High School.
- My first friends are still my best friends.
- I played Division I Women’s Volleyball for the Fairfield University Lady Stags if it is even possible to be a Lady Stag.
- I was an intern in The White House.
- I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship but declined to work on my mother’s first Gubernatorial campaign.
- I lived in Florence, Italy for a semester during college.
- All of my children have family names.
- My husband and I were crazy enough to renovate a 200 year old antique colonial.
- I have witnessed the miraculous birth of 3 babies.
- My musical taste ranges from Carol King and James Taylor to David Matthews Band and Reggae.
- My favorite color is blue.
- I love french fries.
- I drink regular old unleaded Coca Cola.
- My youngest sister lives too far away in California.
- My middle sister just had her third baby boy.
- I prefer the ocean over the lake.
- I am proud to have been born and raised in New Hampshire.
- I love living in New Hampshire, but I do not like to ski, snowboard or mountain bike and I do not eat seafood.
- I earned a Master’s Degree from Harvard University.
- I was a student delegate to the International Academy of Achievement.
- Governor Lynch appointed me to the Commission on the Status of Women and I am currently serving as Chair.
- My first job after college was at Stonyfield Farm.
- I am inspired by the concept of social entrepreneurship and by opportunities to build bridges between the public and private sectors.
- I find parenting to be extremely challenging, but thankfully I adore my children.
