Did you see the Broncos game last night? Peyton Manning threw seven touchdowns. Next month, I'm returning to Colorado for my law school reunion to check out the score in my own life. Don't ask, but let's just say I'm older than Peyton. After seeing shots of the Front Range with all the storms, I couldn't help but wonder what if? Would I have been a powerful Peyton or a flaccid Joe Flacco, in my practice of law, literature and life?
My academic record was mixed at CU, much like Coach Shanahan with the Broncos. My quarterback rating wasn't great, but I was editor in chief of the award winning law school newspaper. After I graduated, I took the New Mexico bar because I hoped to score in the top one percent so I could "waive" into Colorado. Let's just say that I easily passed the bar, but didn't do any waiving hello, I just waived good bye and after a few detours and sidelines, I returned to New Mexico to become an attorney and an author.
Colorado has become a memory for me, which has become greater with the passage of years. Much like Tim Tebow's seven game victory streak when he was with the Broncos.
I went back for CU homecoming a few years ago. Some of my old friends are doing extremely well. I've heard that one is now general counsel for a gold mining company. Talk about metaphors. Some are big firm Denver lawyers who married other big firm Denver lawyers. That might not put them in Payton's paycheck area, but certainly puts them in Wes Welker's. Another friend of mine was working in Aspen. Yes, that Aspen. I turned down a summer clerkship in Aspen to work in Las Cruces, New Mexico which is a story for another time.
Who would I be if I stayed? We checked out the listings in Boulder when we were there, and let's just say I would NOT be living above the Pearl Street Mall with a view of the Flatirons, unless I had inherited a gold mine of my own. Would I still be writing? I did go to a meeting of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers last year, so I'm sure I would have been writing. Still, Rocky Mountain Lawyer is not as exciting a title as Rattlesnake Lawyer.
I have built a life in New Mexico that is far different from what would have been in Colorado. I probably shouldn't ponder what ifs at this late stage in life, but it is human nature. I went to a UNM Lobos game last weekend. I drove five minutes, parked for free, got in for free after a stranger gave me a ticket and saw ten people I knew just over halftime. That sure wouldn't happen at a Bronco's game.
I wasn't a Broncos fan when I was there because of the excessive hype, but I'm on the bandwagon after last night's performance. Manning up indeed.
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