March 2, 2024

Mr. Koon

The call came late last night, which I knew was coming, and gave me the news of a friend who had crossed over and I could no longer tell him we are on this side of the ground when our mutual sessions of complaints about our ailments needed to end so we could get back to the really important issues of life. While we did not socialize outside the office, we did spend quite a bit of time together.
There were at least three times I remember driving Mr. Koon to court for a trial, of which one of them lasted for almost a week, and numerous times I drove him to Court for a personal appearance. I remember the first of many trips to the Pomona Courthouse when his wheelchair arm with the controls on it had come loose, I thought I had broken the chair and wondered how I was going to get Mr. Koon into the Courthouse and up to Department “D” without some major assistance. I found the arm and he was able to put it back together, called it a few names and acted like the chair knew better than to fall apart when he needed to move around.
Then, I drove over to the parking and didn’t have any cash on me and had to beg and pled to park in the lot, with the promise my first born would be given up for adoption if I did not bring the cash back when we were leaving. Of course, I left the keys with the attendant, to cement my pinky promise. While it was never easy to squeeze those Andrew Jackson’s out of Mr. Koon’s pocket, I learned my lesson and bit the bullet each time we went somewhere and asked for parking money before we arrived at the location. I remember one time over by the airport that I became extremely exasperated when I could not find a place to park or a parking lot to enter after I left Mr. Koon at the entrance. I was concerned I was going to either have to park in a no parking zone and hope the car was there when we arrived back from the hearing or just keep driving around and text Mr. Koon to let me know when he was out and ready to be picked up.
Mr. Koon and I were on opposite ends of the political pole. As I look back, I realize our spirited debates became less spirited in the last few years. I also realized there was a change going on in Mr. Koon’s health but didn’t understand how serious it really was as I was picking him up and taking him home each day, then it became every other day, and sometime in maybe late January he was not coming into the office much and not at all by February. I could be off on my timing as I think back about the holidays and don’t remember when the times started that I would go over on Friday to get checks signed for the caretakers and talk to him for a little while.
While I was taking him home on a regular basis, he would desire a stop at his French restaurant, Jaccque in the Box, where we would order his curly fries and a diet Dr Pepper and he would remind me to ask for his senior discount. I took him to Tommy’s once to give him a taste ot American food and he would occasionally ask to return to that place with all the food that he couldn’t finish but liked. We would rarely sprinkle in a Wienerschnitzel’s stop but not very often, even though I kind of think that was a place he liked and would have chosen them more often if they had curly fries.
Mr. Koon would like to have his morning meeting with the staff to be brought up to date on what we were up to for that day. It seems that somehow in the last few years, he started having me stay in the office a little longer than Laura to talk about a case. The law was his life and was the mistress that controlled much of what he did and how he spent his time. I tried to talk to him about some hobbies and he said he did his New York Times crossword puzzle each day and was going to tie flies for fly fishermen and make fly fishing poles. He also had something to do with a hat deal he thought was going to be a winner but I never understood exactly what he was going to do and maybe he didn’t either so that is why it never left the caverns of his mind for the world to see.
I learned how to be a better lawyer from Mr. Koon in that he showed me how he did what I always said I wanted to do, and that was to be the most knowledgeable attorney in the Courtroom concerning my case. The first question he would ask was, “What was your authority for that premise?” I often knew what the general theory was for an issue but did not have the statute or case law on the tip of my tongue to cite. Often, it was frustrating, to say the least, but it made me get my act together before I started spouting off what could or could not be done concerning an issue before us.
If I wanted to, I could find a myriad of negative things to say about Mr. Koon. He was definitely not an easy person to work for. But I think in many ways he did the best he could with the skills he was given. Not that he couldn’t have worked on improving them and maybe should have. But I don’t want my laundry list hung out on the line where I know it could be said I should be working on improving them, so I will attempt to remember the good and forget the bad.
Oh, by the way, on that trip to the Labor Board Hearing by the airport, the sky opened and I found a parking place that I had driven by at least two times and missed. God does answer prayers. So I pray for a healing time for the Koon family as they move into this new phase of their lives where we can say together that we are still on this side of the ground with a heavy heart today that will only become lighter as the days pass and the grieving and healing process relieves the pain of today.