Kate Mahon discusses the transformative effect the recent loss of her dog, Tess, has had on her – and how it’s made her a better private client lawyer
As some of you may have read on social media, my husband and I recently lost our beloved dog, Tess. We rescued her when she was 10 and she was with us for nearly four years. Tess was a huge German Shepherd with a huge personality. She became a matriarch to our other German Shepherd, Pasha, who we rehomed from the police when she was 13 months old. I can’t say Pasha enjoyed this very much at first, but they did grow to love each other eventually.
Tess was very loud and I recall saying to my husband that our dog walks would never be peaceful again. When we took her to the beach for the first time, we ended up having to give her a ball to carry in her mouth so she wouldn’t bark so much. Tess was a gentle giant and wouldn’t hurt a fly. She also became a minor celebrity everywhere we went, as people often stopped us to fuss over her, putting Pasha out enormously as she was the one who’d had all the undivided attention before. Tess certainly had a huge impact on our lives in the relatively short time she lived with us.
Until I lost Tess, I had been relatively fortunate in that I hadn’t lost anyone or an animal that had been very close to me. The grief I felt following Tess’s death was crippling, both emotionally and physically. It knocked the wind out of me and I literally couldn’t function for about a week. The experience opened my eyes to the enormity of what many of my clients experience following the loss of a loved one and reinforced just how strong they are.
It also reminded me just how important private client solicitors are in helping clients through these upsetting times. Solicitors are often perceived as being ruthless and lacking in empathy but us private client solicitors have empathy and compassion by the bucketload, which is why we do this job and love it so much.
The experience of losing Tess will almost certainly make me a better private client solicitor and I have comfort in the knowledge that good will come out of all the pain and sorrow that I still feel (I’m actually crying while writing this!).
Every day is a learning day and we mustn’t lose sight of this, as there is learning in all of our experiences. To that end, please look out for our Private Client Refresher Bundle, a series of online classrooms being run by Lesley King from 11 November to 2 December, and which can be purchased individually or as a bundle. Section members will receive a 20% discount on these webinars using code PR1VATECL1ENT2021.
