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How To Be Real

by | Apr 3, 2016 | Uncategorized

NT readerOn March 16th Nelson Tyrone volunteered as the “Mystery Reader” at the Lovett School for Mrs. Rolls’ First Grade class. He read “The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real” by Margery Williams. As you can tell from the “selfie”, it was lots of fun for everyone!
The Velveteen Rabbit is a story about a stuffed rabbit who longs to become a “real” rabbit. And, only after being loved for a very long time by a little boy, does he begin to understand what “real” really is.
Here is one of Nelson’s favorite passages from the book:

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

“I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
At the Tyrone Law Firm we work on being “real” every day. We know that our clients are depending on us for results that can change their lives and change their families’ lives. We know that juries are just regular folks who are trying to do a good job and make the right decision. For us being “real” serves both purposes: it helps us connect with our clients’ lives, and it allows us to speak to the jury on behalf of our clients without all the pomp and pretense many lawyers bring to the courtroom. Juries know when a lawyer is being “real” and when they aren’t. And once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.

 

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