2023/25 ROBES

I just looked through the 5,323, 657 photos I have stored on my computer, searching for a particular moment I was sure I had captured in a snapshot. Alas, that moment was one year before I got my first iPhone. Though I suspect we have a hard copy of it somewhere in this house, finding it now is not prudent. I am therefore stuck with only words to tell you about the day I placed Dave's black judicial robes over his shoulders. It was the day he was sworn in as a judge back in 2008. Before family, friends, and a distinctive panel of judges and political leaders, I recall the swish of crepe as the black robe fell over his shoulders. The moment is one of those slow motion kind of memories I hold in my head.

Today, while driving to Salt Lake City together, (in the middle of the day no less!) I commented how only four of our eleven grandkids were even alive that day, and they were all too small to remember. To us it feels like day-before-yesterday. To them it was a lifetime ago.

I was really honored to be invited to place those robes on Dave. It was sort of like the raising of the right hand we do in church when someone is given a new position. Besides showing a vote of confidence in them, we commit to support them in their stewardship. Placing those black robes on Dave was a raising of my right hand, a token that I committed to support Dave in this heavy responsibility.

This portrait of Dave in his robes was taken
when he was first appointed.
It hangs in the hallway of the 2nd District Courthouse.

I've thought, these past fifteen years, that Dave looks particularly regal in his judicial robes. They flow nicely over his able shoulders. His hair, fifteen years ago, had a lot less white in it. I've thought his silvering coif has created a very nice contrast in the last few years.

15 years on the bench will turn your hair gray!
This iPhone photo can't match the quality of a Busath studio portrait.
Sorry, Dave.

During the pandemic, when we were holding court virtually from our home, we moved the vintage American flag that stands in our family room into Dave's study. We removed Dave's Law School Diploma from the study wall and placed a wire hanger over the small picture hook. That's where Dave's robes hung during the heat of the pandemic, when the whole world seemed to stop turning but the wheels of justice didn't. Dave was Presiding Judge at the time. He and Judge DiReda, Associate PJ, spent hours on hours on the phone, into the dark nights of the crisis, figuring out how to continue to hold court before the world learned how to function virtually. It was a massive undertaking for which I venture to guess there will have been just a handful of people in the world's history who were part of figuring this out for our judicial system. They were living history. And that black robe was part of the history. In the mornings I would tip-toe around the corner to the glass-paned study doors to peek in and see if His Honor was wearing his robes. I knew if he was, then court was in session, and I'd better hold off making my morning protein smoothie in our loud blender. I hold a tender and respectful place in my heart for the image of his beautiful robes hanging in our home. It was a powerful moment in our worldwide history where we learned that we revere people and processes more than places.

His robes hanging on the wall of our home study.
That's his checkered face mask also on the hanger.

Last week, for the last time, Dave removed his black crepe robes. I have nailed a permanent hook in his home study where they can hang as a reminder.

When the retirement speeches were over last week,  and the courtroom was nearly empty except for a few of our kids and grandkids, I placed a new robe over Dave's shoulders. A yummy, soft, warm and cozy Minky Couture house robe. It's time for a little snuggle-pause, to relax for a moment. 

That hanger with his name on it is what we
eventually hung his robes on in the study.
I ordered it for his birthday that year.
It looked more official than the wire Red Hanger one.

Nearly every night, for the last 15 years, he has spent his sitting down moments preparing for the next day's court docket. It was stunning to me how much homework Dave did. My image of him, late at night when I was in my soft recliner, was him on the couch with a hefty stack of papers in his lap, reviewing cases for the following day while the 10 o'clock news played in the background.

We have now had one full week of no late night legal work. Instead, he's at the computer researching his family's genealogy in preparation for a trip to Ireland we'll be taking next week. But tonight, after our nightly scripture reading with Timo, Dave decided to watch an episode of NCIS. There he sat, in his usual place on the couch...  in his Minky robe... folding laundry.

I could get used to this.

Before...

... After.

Can we just pause, for a moment, and show a little respect for the iPhone?
For all the frustration smart phones have brought on us,
I appreciate the fact that so many priceless moments in my life are
captured and stored on the little handheld computer I carry around in my pocket.
 It's worth every penny of cloud storage I pay each month to
preserve them in a place that is easily accessed and readily shared.