Today at 4 pm, the 84th military client we have helped through the Nicholas J. Murphy Military Legal Clinic, started his visitation and parenting time with his two children after being denied his time for several weeks because his wife filed what I consider to be a bogus order of protection against him to gain an advantage in a custody case. Tomorrow that Order of Protection will be dismissed because we chose to take his case last week to help out a veteran.
In less than a week, we were able to get his Order of Protection dropped, and get his entire divorce case resolved with him having joint decision-making and seeing his kids like a normal parent and the good Dad that he is. I do not know what would have happened to him if we had not been there for him.
Tonight he sent me a picture of him and his kids together and smiling. I told him “That is what it is all about, you and your kids, and that is why we do what we do”. I am so proud of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Unfortunately, it took our family losing a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew and a cousin for us to do it.
Every day when I go to work I see pictures of Nick Murphy on my wall and throughout our office. Every night when I go home I see more pictures of Nick throughout our house. I am proud of Nick and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him and love him. It will be that way every day for the rest of my life. But it is that love for Nick and for my other children, Grant, Alec and Delaney, that gets me up in the morning excited to go to work and to do something great. My grief motivates me to be the best I can be every day. it motivates me to want to help others and be the best attorney, boss, partner, friend, husband and father I can be.
I am so blessed. After almost 34 years together I get to wake up every day to my best friend Theresa Brodeur Murphy. I get to walk down the hall and see the most wonderful daughter a father could ever ask for in Delaney Murphy. I get to go to work every day and see my oldest son, Grant Murphy, and see the awesome young man he has grown up to become, watch him be a lawyer, and watch as he takes over Nick's Foundation as Executive Director. And now I get to see his wife and my daughter in law Maria Murphy as they grow together into a wonderful young couple ready to take on the world as one. And finally I get to talk to and see Alec Murphy and watch as he follows in my footsteps too in law school and watch as he grows up and becomes all that he is destined to be. All of it is truly a blessing and one I no longer take for granted. It can all change in a second.
But what I do not get to do is call up or see Nick. I don’t get to text him how his day has been, fly down to wherever he is stationed to have father-son time, or call him up to just say “hi”. Instead all I get to do is call his phone number and listen to his voice message that tells me “Hi. This is Nick. I cannot come to the phone right now, but leave a message and I will get back to you”. I hang up instead and talk to him myself in the car as if he is still here.
Because no matter what, he is and will always be still here. Maybe not physically, but he will always be here. He will be with us every time we help a veteran in their legal case. He will be with us every time we give a military grant to a needy military family at Christmas. He will be there in June when we give out college scholarships on his behalf and in his honor. And he will be here with us every time we go to a baseball game at Dunlap High School and look at the Nicholas J. Murphy Memorial Press Box.
Funny, I have tried for 30 years at work to build a legacy for myself that I could leave to my family and children and grandchildren. In the end, however, it is not me that leaves the legacy, it will be and is Nicholas J. Murphy. Nick will be remembered long after I am gone, and that is a good thing. It goes to show you, that when you lead a good life, put others first, try your best, and are willing to sacrifice everything to help others like Nick did, no matter how long your life here on earth is, it will be a good life and one well lived. It truly is not the amount of time you spend in life that matters, but what you do with the time you have that counts. Nick may have only been here for 19 1/2 years, but he sure made them count. And as a result, hundreds and thousands of people are going to be helped now and in the future. Thank you Nick for just being you. You make us all proud to be a part of the Nicholas J. Murphy Foundation. You make me proud to be your father.
Join us if you can on June 10, 2019 for the 3rd Annual “Fairways for the Armed Forces” golf outing. The money raised in that one day helps support all that we do the rest of the year. Your sponsorship and you playing supports the cause. And trust me, it is worth it. Just ask that military veteran Dad today that has his kids sleeping with him tonight.
Go to www.nickmurphyfoundation.org to sign up or sponsor. Thank you and have a great day.
