OUTSIDE MY OFFICE WINDOW By: Robbie Pryor Pryor, Priest & Harber
AN UNSENT LETTER them feel important, particularly my clients. No matter the case, my
I saw Charles Swanson walking to the University of Tennessee
clients left the mediation loving her and appreciating the time she took
College of Law Awards Banquet in February. I caught up to and sat
validating their injury/case when others were tearing it down. Trying
next to him for the entirety of the presentations. I’ve known, liked
to summarize it all in a letter to her grieving husband and children has
and respected Charles since I was a child. He was practicing with
always seemed like a ridiculous task. I suppose that was the hurdle for
Pryor, Flynn, Priest & Harber while I was running around the halls
in Halloween costumes. He had been on my mind for awhile because
of the letter on my desk that is addressed to him. It has been there for more than a year.
me - I wasn’t equal to the task. As the awards program moved forward I convinced myself that I would finish my letter. Then Charles rose
to speak. I would soon learn that he was the only person who could
adequately communicate to others the light
How, I must ask, do you send a letter
in Pam Reeves.
of condolence to Charles Swanson after
He started with “She’s right here on
the death of his wife, U.S. District Judge
Pamela L. Reeves? It is the question I asked
my shoulder,” gesturing to her presence. He
of 2020. I’m sure many of you wrote letters
the words he was speaking. Again, is this
revealed how embarrassed she would be by
immediately upon her death in September
not what helped to make her extraordinary?
and did so beautifully. However, I can never
Before taking the stage he had expressed
look at the partially completed letter on
concern regarding the length of his
my desk and properly edit and send it. It
haunts me. No matter the number of revisions made or pretty words
presentation. After 45 seconds, I wished he would go on all night.
I have been burdened by how many essays and eloquently drafted
It has always been so apparent, just like it was in his remarks at the
her accomplishments and attempted to adequately offer condolences
jar. He most certainly did. You can always tell when someone believes
that come to mind, I always feel as though I am falling short. Perhaps letters must have been offered - so many words that listed and praised
If you think this is another column about Pam, you are wrong.
banquet, that Charles will forever believe he captured a butterfly in a
it, and as he spoke at the podium I knew I would never send the letter.
for what was lost. I told him about my burden when I caught up to
I also realized that the things he said about her could undoubtedly
him. Seeing and talking to him at the banquet set me to exploring
be said about him. That, my friends, is just unfair. I’m sure it exists in
completion of the letter, but more importantly, it sparked a self-
their children, but no better understanding of who Pam Reeves could
examination of why I have never allowed myself to send it.
Almost all of us honor accomplished people by listing their
remarkable accomplishments instead of truly examining the light inside them. I wanted to write that letter - the one about light. I read many
come through anyone other than Charles Swanson. Perhaps we are all a reflection of the special people that love us. I hope so. Maybe it is
something we should think about and recognize more. “I can’t believe
she chose me” is what is felt. I bet it will carry him all the days of his life.
beautiful tributes to Pam. They listed all of the “firsts for women” that
Can we even begin to fathom what BOTH of these people, separately
jumped from Pam’s resume, and rightfully so. However, when I think
of her, all I can see is the brilliant light, a light that inspired others to
seek their own potential. When you discovered that the many qualities
which made her so extraordinary are present in one person, you cannot
and together, have meant to our bar associations and people who have known them?
Charles presented the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Student Leadership
possibly explain it, much less offer perspective on what all of us lost
Award to a special student. You could hear a pin drop. It was the perfect
love of the law would have been enough to put her on a pedestal, but
in his unique voice you heard the grief of a broken-hearted man vested
tribute to a judge and a person who brilliantly served her profession, but
in her passing. A combination of intellect, measured leadership, and
with an understanding of what has been lost, but more importantly, a
to possess the level of humility, kindness and love for people elevated
her to a place that is rare among human beings. Rarely will you find a
person so comfortable in her own skin, and, in my opinion, that quality
was the point of origin for all of her accomplishments. To me, Pam was a friend and most familiar to me professionally as a mediator on many cases. I knew her a long time and our families are forever connected.
confidence in how unbelievably right it was that they shared the world.
So, although I told him I’d get around to getting him the letter, I’m
not going to send it. I just won’t attempt to describe light to a man who is so rightfully convinced he once possessed the sun.
I chose her to mediate because she could speak to anyone and make
8
DICTA
April 2022
