Martha Jane Patton:  

I've been married 30 years to a retired union man. Lynn is a great cook and plays classical guitar at home. We have two children. Jonathan is serving his country in the Air Force, stationed in Tampa, Florida, and Will has his own start-up company, Red Mountain Computers. We have two cats: Lucy (fluffy calico) and Grendel (gray striped tabby). I am reminded of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song, "Our House." It's a very, very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard! Except ours are indoor cats, and the house is old and sorta fine in a smallish way. I work full-time as the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham. Our organization is 58 years old, and we represent indigent adults and children. Before that I was a lawyer in private practice for 20 years. My first job was at Prestolite in Decatur, where I got paid minimum wage to work on the voltage regulator assembly line.. What I remember most about it is how dangerously close I came every day to losing fingers.. This was a summer job, between my freshman and sophomore years at Birmingham-Southern College, where I eventually graduated with a double major in English and Philosophy. These two subjects were never well understood at Prestolite. I held a couple of jobs after college before returning for a law degree at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham. Looking back, I never dreamed of becoming a lawyer. In fact, I had no career plans at all, beyond getting married. Somewhere along the way I realized I had to work, and that it might as well be something interesting. Being a lawyer has been interesting indeed. I will never forget my days at Somerville Road Elementary, playing outside at recess, lounging on the grave marker under the big tree, a...Expand for more