Over the course of 77 years I have so many folks to thank and so many reasons to be grateful, and I would like to acknowledge many of them in this chapter. As you read this perhaps you might imagine that I am Jimmy Fallon writing his Friday night thank-you notes, with James of Roots playing soothing music on his keyboard. If you can’t do that just humor me because that’s how I plan to have fun doing this exercise. Here’s a sampling of my gratitude, listed in absolutely no particular order:

Thank you, Chan, for letting my family rent your 141st Street beach house in Ocean City for several years.

Thank you, Dr. Norman Scott, for your many courtesies that have allowed my family and me to enjoy special times in New York City.

Thank you, Sister Marianne, for encouraging me to have speech therapy.

Thank you, Carl Bauersfeld, for hiring me to my first attorney position with a lucrative starting salary of $12,000 per year.

Thank you, Dotty Tully, for being the first girl I kissed which helped me decide not to pursue the priesthood.

Thank you, Coleman White, for being such a good friend.

Thank you, Mark White, for being there when I need you.

Thank you, Maroni’s Pizza Owner, for being the best there ever was.

Thank you, Dick Kurrus, for inviting me to accompany you to Yankee Stadium on the night Reggie Jackson hit three home runs to win the 1977 World series.

Thank you, Father McNichols, for so chastising me in class at the University of Scranton for not paying attention and for being nonresponsive that it compelled me to swallow my vanity and get a hearing aid.

Thank you, Dr. Kimche, for our stays at Sea Colony and tickets to many Kennedy Center performances.

Thank you, Ferguson Family of Montgomery County, Brown Family of Martinsville, and Scott Family of Jersey City, for being such loyal long-time clients.

Thank you, Dr. Walter Haab, for being my college guidance counselor who told me I had no future in any scientific field.

Thank you, Bob White, for introducing me to your sister.

Thank you, Mother St. Hugh, for not suspending or expelling me when in 6th grade I took a swing at the class bully and missed him with my swing landing instead on Sister Rosario’s chest.

Thank you, Dr. Brill, for all the house calls you made when I was a sick child and all the penicillin shots in my ass.

Thank you, Scientists on Operation Warp Speed, for developing vaccines in record time.

Thank you, Chris, for not reporting me to the abusive parents police when I tipped you over off my bike and when I insisted that the batting cage was safe and when I tried to lose you at the county fair.

Thank you, Dan and Karen Vitiello, for coming to my rescue when I was detained at the 4th Precinct station for accumulated unpaid parking tickets that were issued when a former law school classmate drove my car for a month while I was out of town.

Thank you, Catholic University of America, for giving me a free ride through law school.

Thank you, Monsignor Strickler, for advising me in a pre-cana session that artificial birth control was sinful so I should never have to bother with putting on a condom in the heat of passion.

Thank you, Wally Brill, for saving my life twice when I ventured too far out in 4 1⁄2 foot water.

Thank you, Patrick, for giving me the doubles lanes in our competitive tennis matches.

Thank you, Skettino’s, for giving me 5 cents for every empty beer and soda bottle I returned to your store.

Thank you, Miriam Kranton, for checking on me every day or so to see if I was still alive.

Thank you, Gil McDougald, my Yankee hero, for sending an autographed baseball to me when I was hospitalized in my childhood.

Thank you, Al Lubiejewski, for not playing in my presence those Joe Cocker and Janis Joplin albums that you made me buy for you and which I hated.

Thank you, Joe, Maura, and Jane, for the many ways you continue to remember and honor your wonderful parents.

Thank you, Mrs. Glogau, for letting me drive your 1964 Chrysler across country in 1971.

Thank you, Justin, for making me pay $240 for a Rudy jacket that no longer fits.

Thank you, Martin Dembo, for your confidence in me and your referrals which contributed greatly in the development of my client base, and also for the May 25 dinners.

Thank you, Grandma and Aunt Ann, for never sending me to Mrs. Duggins when I misbehaved like Jackie O’Day.

Thank you, Bethesda and Rockville bartenders, for serving me so well.

Thank you, Stacey and Abby, for being such great mothers to my grandchildren.

Above all, of course, I am most thankful for the care and support I received from all family members in my Scranton home, especially my sainted sister and role model father, and for all my years with Claudia, my wife, my love and my best friend and critic. As for Chris, Patrick and Justin, I am so grateful that they are such loving and caring adults and supportive siblings to each other. I thank them for being interested in the stories of my life.