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25 Years of Thanksgiving

Sat Nov 21, 2015 by on Florida Law News

 

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Every year just before Thanksgiving, as many as you know, I like to share some personal thoughts about the Thanksgiving holiday.  It is, after all, a holiday I am most fond of for many reasons; but the reason that stands out year after year is that regardless of your ethnic background, your race, your economic position in life or your country of origin it is the one time we all come together AS ONE…ONE NATION…ONE PEOPLE… to give thanks for all the good in our respective lives. It is also a time that we see such good in humanity and people giving thanks by giving to those less fortunate. Wherever I turn, there is another food drive to make sure that at least for one day no one goes hungry in our great nation.

This year, in particular, I give thanks to all of our friends and clients that have supported our firm’s efforts during the past 25 years. It is hard to believe that we have had the privilege of serving the South Florida community for the past quarter century. 3thanksgivingorangegraphic

On that note Bruce Rogow a good friend and one of the most esteemed lawyers in the state, if not the country, recently found an old crumpled newspaper article that he had kept.  The Miami Herald clipping was from 1992, telling the story about how Ellen and I left large law firm life and went from Wall Street to Main Street to pursue the dream of striking out on our own.  Bruce found the article behind a drawer of an old desk he was having recently redone. A fascinating part about the article that I share with you here is that after all these years I remain truly thankful for having had the opportunity to pursue what for me was the American Dream. A dream consisting of simultaneously trying to be a sustaining force in the community while attempting to maintain a good sense of humor and have some fun along the way, and at all times maintaining for ourselves and our colleagues a healthy, work-life balance.

We are thankful for being able to remain passionate about what is so important in our lives, a drive that has not waned in a quarter century.

Roy Oppenheim Ellen Pilelsky Oppenheim Law

As I think back 25 years there was no email, no Internet just our non-networkable 286 MS.dos computers (actually we started with a TRS 80 made by Tandy).  We had one fax machine that my parents purchased for us for $850 as a gift for starting our firm.  And so it began…but it was our friends, relatives, colleagues and clients that pushed us along the way and to them we are eternally grateful and thankful this Thanksgiving.

We only ask that we may continue to serve the community for, in the end, such service is how we pay it forward for those who have supported us these past 25 years.

From my family and the firm to all of you, we wish you and your families all the very best this Thanksgiving.

From the trenches,

Roy Oppenheim

 

 

Tags: bruce rogow, Ellen Pilelsky, real estate defense law, Roy Oppenheim, The Miami Herald