OCBA UPDATE: It's the time of the season to be thankful

Martha my dear,

Though I spend my days in conversation,
Please remember me
 
Hold your head up, you silly girl,
Look what you’ve done.
When you find yourself in the thick of it,
Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you,
Silly girl.
 
Take a good look around you,
Take a good look, you’re bound to see
That you and me
Were meant to be for each other,
Silly girl.
 
Martha my dear,
You have always been my inspiration,
Please be good to me.
 
Martha my love,
Don’t forget me,
Martha my dear.
 
“Martha My Dear”
(Paul McCartney)
Released: November 1968
 
As I have written in my previous articles, The Beatles were unquestionably the most successful rock and roll band ever. Like all of us, The Beatles had much to be thankful about.

Specifically, April 4, 1964, was a remarkable day in Beatle history. On that day, The Beatles didn’t just have the number one single in the Billboard charts, they didn’t have the top two singles, they didn’t even have the top three singles. On that day The Beatles stood at numbers one, two, three, four and five in the charts – half of the top 10 singles for that time!

One reason The Beatles had such a fantastic April 4, 1964, is that millions of rabid junior high school and high school fans like me devoured and purchased every 45 single and 331/3 album the Fab Four released. While I did not make a lot of money in 1964 delivering newspapers after school for the Royal Oak Daily Tribune, I considered the use of some of my earnings to purchase Beatles records to be a very wise and entertaining financial investment.

Another reason for the incredible domination of the Billboard charts by The Beatles in 1964 was that so many American labels were releasing Beatles records that year. The number one single on April 4, 1964, was “Can’t Buy Me Love,” on Capitol Records. The number two single, “Twist and Shout,” was on Tollie Records, a subsidiary of Vee-Jay Records. At number three on the Billboard charts was “She Loves You,” initially released by Swan Records in 1963 with little success, and reissued in 1964 with hopes it would perform better – which it did, having topped the charts the previous week. 

Capitol Records’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was at number four on its way down from the top spot. “Please Please Me,” on its way down from its peak at number three, was now at number five, and had been previously released in 1963 on Vee-Jay Records. The Beatles having the five top singles in the Billboard top 10 was a stunning achievement that is unlikely to ever be repeated. 

And those weren’t the only singles The Beatles had on the charts that week; there were seven more songs in the top 100. On the album charts that same week, Capitol’s “Meet The Beatles” was at number one and Vee-Jay’s “Introducing The Beatles” was at number two, while MGM’s compilation “The Beatles with Tony Sheridan and Their Guests” was at number 77. 

Over the band’s career, The Beatles had 20 number one hits. Between 1964 and 2004, The Beatles sold more than 1.3 billion records worldwide. They received six Diamond Awards for album sales of 10 million or more, which is the most of any recording artist in history. John, Paul, George and Ringo have had much to be thankful for over the past 50-plus years.

With the beautiful fall weather now a distant memory, the holiday season is now upon us. This is a period of time in which we all need to slow down and give thanks for the many blessings we receive daily. November is a very important month to me, and one I am particularly thankful for, because it is the month in which I got married to my wonderful wife, Martha. In late November 2015 Martha and I celebrated our 37th anniversary. 

Martha and I graduated from law school in the spring of 1977 and passed the Michigan Bar Exam in November 1977. We began dating in December 1977 and were engaged during the summer of 1978. We were married on November 25, 1978, and have been a team ever since. Like The Beatles song “Martha My Dear” says, my Martha has always been my inspiration.

Martha and I have shared myriad life experiences together, including purchasing our first home in 1978; having our daughter, Elizabeth, in 1981; purchasing our northern Michigan cottage in 1984; being actively involved in raising our daughter and watching her mature into a superb young woman during the 1990s; running Martha for Circuit Court judge in 2002 and watching her win a seat on the Oakland County Circuit Court bench; and enjoying our daughter’s wedding in July 2014. Without a doubt, Martha and I have had an active and fulfilling 37 years together. 

In addition to being thankful for having grown up during the 1960s and being able to watch The Beatles develop as the greatest rock and roll group ever, and being married to my fantastic spouse, I am also very thankful for my affiliation with the Oakland County Bar Association. As I have stated repeatedly, the OCBA has assisted me in growing in a positive direction both personally and professionally. I am thankful and humbled to be president of this wonderful bar association. I will never be able to repay my debt to the OCBA for all the great things it has provided to me over the past 37 years. 

One of the things I am most thankful for involving my participation in the OCBA is the numerous great people I have met who make up this stellar bar association. When I look at the New Lawyers Committee, I am awed by the incredibly talented new lawyers I see participating in our bar association. These men and women, through the numerous programs and opportunities the OCBA provides to them, are making a meaningful impact in both the legal community and in the Oakland County community. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be around these energetic and interesting people. I never cease to be amazed at how much I learn from them every day.

I also give thanks for my interaction with our mid-career and seasoned members, who have been involved in the Oakland County Bar Association for many decades. Their collegiality and wisdom continue to inspire me. I also give thanks to the numerous activities the OCBA affords me and its 3,000-plus members. I love playing golf at our annual summer Golf Outing. I also enjoy being with OCBA members at fun and interesting events such as the Diversity Dinner, Holiday Gala, Bench/Bar Conferences and Annual Meeting. 

I am also thankful for the numerous committees of our bar association. These committees help keep me intellectually stimulated and provide me with a wealth of quality information on current legal issues in the practice of law in Oakland County and the State of Michigan. I am thankful for the wonderful men and women who serve as our chairs and vice-chairs of the 28 substantive law committees and seven special-purpose committees. These men and women donate countless hours of their time and talent to make our bar association and the legal community we serve an intellectual beacon for all attorneys in the tri-county area. 

I am thankful for the strong relationship that exists between the Oakland County Bar Association, its members and our Oakland County judiciary. Having practiced law for 38 years, I am convinced the district court judges, Probate Court judges, and Circuit Court judges who serve Oakland County are absolutely the finest judges in the state of Michigan. 

I am thankful for events such as the District Court Bench/Bar Conference, the Circuit Court Bench/Bar Conference and the Meet the Judges event that allow our members and the judiciary to learn something from one another, and more importantly, to enjoy one another’s company and get to know each other better. I hope all of our Oakland County judges know how much we appreciate what they do for our community and our bar association. I encourage each one of them to become a sustaining member of our bar association to show all attorneys in the tri-county area what a great bar association we have. 

Lastly, I am thankful for our incredibly talented OCBA staff. This group is led by Terri Gilbert, who in my opinion is the finest executive director of any bar association in the state. In the short period of time Terri has been the OCBA executive director she has made so many positive changes to this organization I do not have time to list them all in one column. I am grateful for all the hard work the OCBA employees do on a daily basis to make our organization the finest voluntary bar association in Michigan and possibly the Midwest.

This holiday season, I pray everyone in our OCBA family takes time to give thanks for the things in their lives that are truly important. To paraphrase The Beatles in “Martha My Dear,” let’s each of us take a good look around and I am certain you will agree that we members of this great bar association were meant to be for each other. 

Wishing all of the 3,000-plus OCBA members and their families a safe and joyous 2015 holiday season and healthy and prosperous 2016.
——————
David Carl Anderson, of Law Office of David C. Anderson PC, is the 83rd president of the Oakland County Bar Association. Share thoughts about the OCBA or anything else with Anderson at 248-649-5502 or dcalaw08@att.net.

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