I have two subjects to talk about on today’s KellyGram and I cannot decide which one is more important or should be first:  I drove to Fayetteville, NC on this past Wednesday to do a social security disability hearing for a very deserving lady who has lost six family members through death in the last two years including two of her three children!  Having experienced a death in my life in February 2015 I cannot  imagine the mental anguish this woman is suffering.  She could barely walk in the room and came in her pajamas!  She was profoundly in grief and I have never felt more sorry for a deserving client in my 38 years! 

 

This is the same day that the reporter and photographer were shot in my home state of Virginia. While driving home scrolling through the radio stations searching for Christian contemporary music I mistakenly came across talk radio. The commentator had a different view on the Virginia shootings. He said instead of having less guns at the scene they needed to have more guns. His theory was if the camera man would have had a gun on him while the shooter was shooting at him and the horrified reporter then he could have dropped his camera and pulled out his own gun and shot the shooter.  I don’t take political positions on the KellyGram, but I literally almost had a wreck when people in America think we need more guns.  Think about it!

       Today I want to talk about one of my real life heroes: Dustin Johnson. I deeply admire Dustin Johnson or “DJ” as he is known by his millions of fans and fellow PGA golfers. He is a product of Irmo, SC and the stellar SC junior golf program (which features many current golf stars who came through the program).  He is a superb athlete, probably could play three or four professional sports  and he grips it and rips it like John Daly used to do in his heyday.

 

        In the British Open this year Dustin was the leader in the first two rounds and then had a bad round on Saturday and appeared by numerous observers on the last day to be “going through the motions.” His score ballooned and he finished in the middle of the pack.  Fast forward to last weekend’s final major of the year at the PGA Championship Scenic Whistling Straits in Michigan. Dustin played superb and was in contention when he teed off on Sunday afternoon.  On the very first hole, he got a double par and several holes later another bogey which put him out of contention for all practical purposes. Instead of folding his tent, he showed extraordinary courage and perseverance and proceeded to shoot the low round of the day after being five strokes over par for the day in the very first five holes.

   Even though 2015 provided the biggest challenge of my life with the loss of my beloved wife Anne as well as the usual business challenges that go along with being a self-employed entrepreneur, I consider myself to be an extremely blessed man, almost beyond measure!  I cannot begin to list all of my blessings, but it starts with my faith,  my children, my work and home families and the blessing of good health. Close behind are YOU – My Clients! The legal marketplace in South Carolina has never been more crowded with lawyers competing for business, especially the attorneys who spend millions of dollars on television advertisements. The way my law firm has continued to grow and prosper is through my many thousands of  loyal clients that I have represented over these last 37 years as well as the new ones that bring their legal needs to the Mike Kelly Law Group every single day!

        I have been blessed to be an attorney helping injured, wronged and sick people for 37+ years.  Every now and then the job gets a little old with payroll, deadlines, overhead issues, and other items, but 98% of the time I LOVE my job each and every day!  Where else can you make a good living and get a chance to help people pretty much your entire day.  I have long held this conclusion, but the other day I was riding between Lancaster and Columbia and I had and “Aww Ha” moment, sort of a moment of clarity.  In the past 24 hours, I have helped a 10 year old hemophiliac  (and learned a lot about the dreaded disease of hemophilia along the way) and got a dear sweet client a $17,000 settlement on the courthouse steps when her previous counsel tried to get her to take only $4000. 

This week I want to talk about God working before our very eyes. Tommy Taylor has a device that was not approved by the FDA after a clinical trial.  He was faced with the prospect of dying if a new device was not installed. We instituted litigation on legal issues which I certainly cannot discuss at this time, but simultaneously assisted Tommy in getting the word out that he would need hundreds of thousands of dollars to  have the life-saving device replaced.  I am happy to report that through the generosity of many people as well, as the efforts of Attorney Brad Hewett in my office in working with the hospital/medical provider to obtain a final amount and schedule the procedure,  there has been a significant public response resulting in numerous individual gifts that go both directly and through my Trust account and GoFundMe.