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S eptember 2021
20 years on , the L essons of 9/11
WHAT WE LEARNED AND HOW WE REMEMBER Michael and I were in the first year of our marriage when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. We were still struggling to integrate our households and make the children feel safe, and now we were faced with all kinds of questions we never thought we’d have to consider. Were we going to war? Would our bank accounts remain accessible? Would our kids be okay?
Our youngest son was not yet born on that day, but Bill was a young teenager in middle school, and Matthew was in elementary school. Like many parents, we decided to go get our boys from school and bring them home. While Bill’s father was not in the area, Matthew’s mother was, and to our surprise, we didn’t all see eye-to- eye on how we should come together to support the kids. It was our first attempt to manage a crisis as a binuclear family, and like so many others do in the beginning, we didn’t handle everything as well as we’d hoped we would. But even though we struggled on that day, it was a catalytic experience in our family’s journey. We realized we needed to determine the rules of engagement and how to work together to support our kids in the future. Over time, we figured out how to get through major events and crises as a team, and our kids were happier and safer as a result. It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since then. To commemorate this somber anniversary, the Manely Firm is helping to sponsor the Marietta Kiwanis Club’s 5th Field of Flags installation. This event takes place on every five-year anniversary of 9/11 and honors each person who lost their lives that day with the installation of an American flag. This is the second time the firm has participated in the Field of Flags. Michael and I are passionate about our business being an integrated and engaged member of the community, and participating in the Kiwanis is just one of the ways we try to give back. In line with those values, we sponsor the membership of any staff member who wants to join, and we have three employees heavily engaged with the flag project. The Field of Flags takes place from Sept. 4–18 and is one of the largest commemorative events in the nation. It begins with a parade of community members who carry the flags from the Grace Community Church to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, where they will ultimately be installed. Placing 2,977 flags to honor the lives lost on 9/11 is no easy undertaking, so many
organizations work together to make it happen. The result is an overwhelming and emotional sea of red, white, and blue.
A memorial service will be held on Sept. 11, with a lone bagpipe opening and closing the service. Retired Captain James D’Avolio of the New York Fire Department will speak, and the names of each person who died during the terrorist attacks will be read out loud.
Each flag is available to take home after the event for a sponsorship fee. We use any proceeds after the cost of the event to give back to the Marietta community through
services for veterans and local youth. To learn more about the Field of Flags, find full event details, or sponsor a flag, visit MariettaKiwanis.org/FieldofFlags. We never want to forget the lessons we learned on 9/11, whether they were together as a nation or privately as a family. We hope you’ll join us in using this 20th anniversary as a time for reflection and remembrance. –Sheila Manely
We have a new office! We’ve opened a new office, serving North Fulton, Cherokee, Pickens, Dawson, Lumpkin, and Hall. Come visit us today! The Manely Firm, P.C. 102 Mary Alice Park Road Suite 602 Cumming, GA 30040 (770) 421-0808
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G oodbye , S hoe C haos !
3 Storage Ideas That Wi l l Save You From Tr ipping It’s that time of year again: The kids are charging inside, kicking off their shoes wherever they please, and tearing into the house! If you’ve already tripped over a dozen pairs of sneakers, it’s time to create and enforce a better shoe storage solution. Here are three functional and attractive methods to try. 1. The DIY PVC Pipe Shoe Cubby
door shoe bag. These fabric, clear plastic, or upscale mesh bags hook over the top of a door and are covered in pockets for shoes. Many can hold up to 36 pairs! Best of all, when they’re hanging on the back of your mudroom or closet door, your shoes will be both easy to access and tucked out of sight. You can find affordable racks on Amazon. com for less than $10 or fancier models at Walmart for under $20.
This shoe storage project is all the rage on Pinterest! It turns out that when you cut a large PVC pipe into sections, paint them your preferred color(s), and glue them together with PVC glue, the honeycomb effect looks both fun and elegant. You can try this in your mudroom or in your kids’ rooms to make putting away their shoes feel like a game. Check out the video “PVC Pipe Shoe Rack” by Home Made Simple on YouTube for a step-by-step guide to building a floor rack or Instructables.com for tips on mounting your rack to the wall.
3. The Hanging Closet ‘Shoe File’
Speaking of closets, the “shoe file” is the perfect storage solution for a coat closet or any other closet near your main door. Instead of hanging on the door, this pocket-filled organizer cascades from a hanger! Many of the pockets are conveniently located at eye level; you can load up your closet with as many files as you need, and each file can hold up to 18 pairs of shoes. ContainerStore.com sells elegant shoe files starting at $12.99.
2. The Over-the-Door Shoe Bag
If you don’t have the floor space for a traditional shoe rack, consider investing in an over-the-
H er R oad to T he M anely F irm JUNIOR PARALEGAL MELISSA PIKE FINDS HER PASSION
perfect opportunity. She was hired as a receptionist in 2019 and worked her way up to junior paralegal after a year. Her role now involves notifying defendants of any litigation pending against them. Plaintiffs need to file paperwork with the court before serving the defendant with notice of a lawsuit. During the several days between the plaintiff filing and the defendant being served, the defendant is left in the dark. Since Melissa regularly checks new filings, she is able to give them a heads-up with a letter offering the Firm’s services. This removes the element of surprise and gives power back to the defendant. Melissa takes this job seriously, noting, “I was served with divorce papers in front of my boss, so it’s a personal matter to me.” Being served can be frightening and embarrassing, she said. “It feels like you have no control.”
She thinks the letters she sends “let people know they’re not alone and gives them a step they can take toward their own assistance.” One of the things Melissa appreciates most about working at The Manely Firm is the hard work they do for every individual client and “they are an incredibly ethical firm.” That’s a change from her previous work at the phone company, where she had to refuse requests from management to engage in unethical or even illegal behavior. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys reading and caring for her three rescue dogs — Slimer, Gozer, and Zeddmore. She knows she’s lucky to work with the great team at The Manely Firm. “They’re very family-focused and ethical here,” she says. “It is like a family.”
It took some time for Melissa Pike to find her passion. She began her career at the phone company, where she worked for 15 years. There, she served as vice president of the labor union and became very interested in the details of the labor contract. When she was laid off, she found work at an insurance company, where she dealt with legal paperwork. It was then that she recognized her calling. Melissa dove headfirst into law, getting her paralegal certification at Kennesaw State University. She heard about The Manely Firm through a friend, who also knew Shelia Manely, and realized she’d found the
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The Keys to Emotional Intelligence Unlocking Their Power
“D o not follow where the path may lead . G o instead where there is no path and leave a trail .” — R alph W aldo E merson
Emotional intelligence or “EQ” is the ability to appropriately recognize, manage, and respond to emotions. A high EQ can be just as critical to your success as a high IQ, and experts believe people with higher EQs have stronger relationships, calmer demeanors, and more successful careers.
So, what exactly is emotional intelligence? According to psychologist Daniel Goleman, EQ is made up of five key skills.
Self-awareness is the ability to think critically and objectively about one’s own actions and feelings. One of the most important components is being able to recognize, identify, and understand your own emotions. Self-aware people know their own strengths and weaknesses, receive new information with an open mind, and understand the impact of their actions on others. Self-regulation involves taking the emotions you’ve identified and learning how to manage them. This doesn’t mean suppressing your emotions — just taking a moment to process your emotions before responding so you can express them appropriately. People who self-regulate tend to be trustworthy, conscientious, and open to change. Self-motivation is the ability to find an inner sense of purpose without the promise of an external reward like money or praise. This involves setting your own goals and pursuing them for your own sense of satisfaction and well-being. Motivated people are passionate, curious, and driven to improve themselves. Empathy , of course, involves understanding how other people are feeling. But it’s also the ability to understand how someone’s feelings are influencing their actions and knowing how to respond accordingly. Empathy makes room for compassion and increases your ability to connect with others. Social skills , lastly, are critical to emotional intelligence. They put all of the above skills together so you can communicate effectively, build rapport with other people, and form relationships. People with good social skills tend to show interest in others, have excellent listening skills, and aim to put other people at ease. Emotional intelligence affects many aspects of your daily life, like how you react to frustrations at work, how you handle an upset child, and how you respond to a friend or partner who is having a bad day. Improve your EQ today by harnessing the above five skills.
W atermelon J icama S alad
Inspired by BonAppetit.com
This late-summer salad hits every flavor note and is a great way to get acquainted with jicama, a root vegetable native to Mexico that you’ve probably passed numerous times in the produce section! It’s easy to prepare (just peel and eat) and has the crispness of an apple and the satisfying starch of potato.
I ngredients
• • • •
1 3-lb seedless watermelon
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1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 small jicama
3 tbsp fresh lime juice Kosher salt, to taste
1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
D irections 1. Prepare the watermelon by removing the rind and cutting the melon into 2 1/2-by-1/2-inch sticks. 2. Peel the jicama with a vegetable peeler, then cut it into sticks the same size as the watermelon. 3. In a large bowl, combine the watermelon and jicama with jalapeño, scallion, cilantro, and lime. Sprinkle with kosher salt, toss gently to combine, taste, and adjust seasoning.
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211 Roswell St. NE Marietta, GA 30060 (866) 687-8561 www.allfamilylaw.com
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Remembering the Lives Lost and Lessons Learned on 9/11
3 Shoe Storage Ideas That Will Save You From Tripping Meet Junior Paralegal Melissa Pike 5 Important Emotional Intelligence Skills Late Summer Watermelon Jicama Salad
Unique Historical Beauty Trends
U nique B eauty T rends
The phrase “beauty standards” could easily be considered an oxymoron because beauty is rarely standard. Throughout history, what people in one society or time period found beautiful would often be found ugly, strange, or downright reprehensible in another. To illustrate that point, here are a few examples of the strangest beauty trends throughout world history — by our society’s own subjective standards, of course! Unibrows in Ancient Greece Rather than the intensely plucked and manicured eyebrows that are in style for women today, ancient Greek women were encouraged to let them grow into one. Unibrows were seen as a sign of purity, and some women went so far as to darken their eyebrows with black powder or close the gap with animal hair. Skull Shaping in Ancient Mesoamerica Popularized among the Mayans beginning around 1000 B.C., parents of newborn children would bind their heads in order to make them grow into an unnaturally elongated shape, possibly to mimic their depiction of one of their gods. Other tribes around the world actually had similar beauty
practices, including the Incas, Hawaiians, and even Germanic Hun tribes. Ta Moko Tattoos Among the Maoris in New Zealand Even today, beauty standards remain disparate. For over 1,000 years, members of the indigenous Maori tribe of New Zealand have decorated their faces with intricate tattoos called Ta Moko. Far from what a face tattoo represents in the United States, these tattoos represent strength and beauty in women and a readiness for adult responsibilities in men. Cosmetic Surgery as a Status Symbol in South Korea South Koreans prize porcelain white skin, pointed noses, small faces, and large eyes — to the point where 1 in every 5 people undergo plastic surgery, mostly to alter the shape of their eyes and noses. These surgeries are expensive, which goes to show that even today, people will go to extreme lengths to conform to their society’s definition of beauty.
But if beauty is so plainly subjective, how far should people be willing to go to appear “beautiful”?
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