Ice Cream and Anxiety: Tracy’s Story
I grew up in a house in the middle of a soybean field in Taylorsville, Georgia. My father had only one place he wanted to live after he settled down, and my mother had only one place she did not want to live, so it worked out for them. Growing up, my only neighbors were family: my grandparents and my grandfather’s widowed sister and widowed sister-in-law. Our houses were all less than 50 yards apart, and we called our little family compound “The Hill.” As a child, I had free run of The Hill and visited my grandparents or great-aunts nearly daily. They always had ice cream on hand, and I’ve probably eaten more ice cream cones in my lifetime than anyone else on earth.
If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend living as close as possible to such an endless supply of ice cream, safety, and love.
High School and College
While my childhood was full of ice cream cones and bicycles, my early teenage years were miserable. I had very few social skills and almost no friends. I was smart but lazy and quit nearly everything that I didn’t do naturally well. After three torturous years of high school, I skipped my senior year and went to college early. The fresh start was just what I needed. I flourished in college, effectively making that painful transition from teenager to near-adult with decent success.
During my senior year of college, I had no real clue what I could do for a job and felt unwilling to give up student life. So, I applied to law school. Practicing law seemed like a good way to make a good, steady living, and I was already good at reading, writing, and talking. Money, and the sufficiency of it, has always been important to me. My parents were serial entrepreneurs while I was growing up. Their anxiety and stress over finances from their ventures made me anxious. I have always worried about money, and financial security is of paramount importance to me.
Law School: Cs Get Degrees
Law school was an overall good experience. I met my best friends for life, and I met the man who would eventually become my husband. Contrary to my lifelong belief, I learned that I was not always the smartest person in the room. For the first time, I found that academic success was not going to come easily. I graduated law school solidly average to below average academically, and I felt inferior to other lawyers for lots of years when I began practicing.
My Legal Career, Which Almost Died in its Infancy
I began my legal career in Cartersville, where I had gone to school growing up. My first job was a disaster. After one year, I quit in a flare of dramatics giving less than a day’s notice and vowed to leave the law forever. Once I calmed down, I reached out to another firm that had been interested in hiring me and gave my career a reset. At this second job, I learned how to be a lawyer. I grew confident that I was actually smart enough to be a lawyer and was actually quite good at it.
Marriage and Motherhood
I married my husband Knox in 2007. He’s also a lawyer. I married him because he can hang things on walls and fix stuff, and I’m someone who needs a lot of help. He can’t cook, and I can, so it’s a pretty even match. We have two little girls ages 9 and 6. Last April we moved into a new house in Marietta where we plan to stay for lots of years. Generally, I’m very happy and satisfied with my family life, but like all mothers, I feel guilty about the time I don’t spend with my children. And I feel even guiltier when I do spend time with them and they drive me crazy.
Love and Business
I love being a lawyer, and I love the work that I do helping other families. The thing about families is that you don’t get to choose them, and you really can’t quit them, even if you want to or need to. Where you come from is indelibly a part of who you are. I grew up on a farm, eating too much ice cream, and witnessing the highs and lows of business ownership. Now I’m an adult. I still eat too much ice cream. Every day, I’m running my own business and finding a way to make it all work. And, if I can do all that and help people along the way, I’m happy.