Janet Story:  

When I was a kid I used to get teased a lot about my name. I heard "What's the story, Story?" and "Tell me a story, Story" more times than I could count. However, I have to say that it's an appropriate last name because I do like to tell stories, and now I'll tell you mine. I'll do my best to make it humorous and interesting, but I don't promise to be brief ... I know my limits :) After graduating from Saguaro I went to Lake Forest College, a college in the north suburbs of Chicago. Anita Volgyi (Grinis) from our class attended as well. My parents were nonplussed when I announced that I wanted to attend a small liberal arts college and live in the dorms, believing that I had failed to notice that (a) my dad was a teacher, (b) my mom started law school my junior year in high school so my dad was the only wage earner, and (c) there were 5 kids in my family. I think they thought I was a little insane. Luckily Lake Forest gave me great financial aid and I was able to attend and thoroughly enjoy 4 years of living in the dorm, trips to Chicago on the weekends, and oh yes, getting my degree in history in 1983. Naively, I assumed that those who said that the only thing I was going to be able to do with a history degree was to teach or go to law school. I was so convinced that I'd get hired by a business which could see that what my college promised - "You can do anything with a liberal arts degree" - was true and that I was the perfect candidate for a great job. I was wrong. After 8 months doing temp work trying to find a job, and about 3 years working for Social Security and not earning much I decided I needed to go to graduate school. Since my abilities in science and math were sorely lacking (let's just say I didn't distinguish myself and high school bio or chem), that narrowed my choices. Since I come from a family of lawyers (try not to shudder) and my then-husband was a lawyer, law school was a logical choice and I started at ASU in 1988, graduating in 1991. After law school I followed both my mother and said husband into the field of Juvenile law, where I have happily practiced for over 27 years. I am self-employed with an office in old town Scottsdale. For the past 20 years, my practice has focused on the adoption of children from the foster care system. I represent grandparents, aunts and uncles, other relatives, and foster parents in adopting their children. It's an amazing practice, one I like to call "Happy Law." In 2010 my sister Sara (class of 80) joined me after a previous career in social work. She speaks fluent Spanish which is a wonderful asset and it's great to have 2 lawyers in the office so we can take turns going on vacation in the summer. Our other sister Jennifer (class of 86) also works with us. People always a...Expand for more