SOPHIA
November 2005-March 2020
On Saturday, 3/28/20 we lost our dear office dog of 14 years, Sophia. She opened RLO with me and set the tone for the kind of office and practice I hoped to build; inclusive, kind, supportive and sincere without pretense. I decided she deserved a place on our website as she certainly had one in our hearts.
As many of you knew, Sophia was an ambassador and offered comfort and kindness to strangers and family alike- ready to great you at the door and welcome you into my office. She saw no color, no gender or disability- only the light inside the person and she reached for that, gently nudging it out even when it felt hidden or lost.
At Rice Law Office, our clients are all too often facing huge challenges when they come to us. Most are dealing with the loss, uncertainty and fear that come with losing a job or suffering a serious injury or illness. I stand next to and beside my clients in their struggle for recovery from that loss, but the law has its limits and full recovery requires more than we can offer. It requires a letting go of past wrongs, a refusal to get caught up in future worries and embracing the new and unknown. Dogs are a good example of that.
That’s because dogs are almost always “in the moment,” with no grudge for the past and no worry of the future. With her around, it was almost impossible to take yourself too seriously, and she pulled everyone into the present moment, if only to pat a dog. Inevitably you took a breath too. Sophia helped all of us in the fight for justice by offering her unabashed acceptance and by reminding us to stay connected to the people in the case and not just the law.
This dog, our Sophia, also had an uncanny sense for knowing when people needed a distraction. She was tuned into need and instead of running away, she rose to fill that need. I can’t tell you how many times she would quietly rise from her place beneath my desk, at just the right moment, to lend a soft head to rub and to offer a place to look down when looking ahead felt hard. She often sensed the brim of tears before I did and perhaps even before my client did. That’s how dogs are, they don’t read words, they read feelings and in that way she made a great partner. We humans attend to the business of law and use our words to advocate. Sophia, being a dog after all, stuck to what she knew best, the business of the heart.
In keeping with her self-determined mission to contribute, she was there to offer joy too, as only dogs can. She greeted countless clients with a whole body smile and “took” depositions like a champ. Most of all, she brought a calm and comfort to all of us.
We can learn a lot from a dog like Sophia-she leapt happily into the car not knowing where we were headed, but just happy to be with us. She will be missed.