of zone with respect to the case. While in this state, Ben’s intensity level and focus would skyrocket, while he subconsciously drove all extraneous matters, including people, from his thoughts. He had experienced this single-minded sense of purpose at various points throughout his youth and it grew increasingly prevalent during his college and law school years. During these periods, people frequently found him short-tempered and difficult.
At first, he didn’t even notice the changes in himself. It took Libby, after they had been together for awhile, to point out where and how these transformations, some little, some not, occurred. Over time and with his wife’s assistance, Ben became more acutely aware of these periods and the profound effect on his moods. This zone or “there,” as his wife often described it, reached its zenith while Ben was a prosecutor. As he began handling more violent cases - aggravated assaults, rapes, and even murders, and his anger and highly competitive nature more and more got the best of him, Ben went “there” with increasing frequency. Although Ben never thought that it ever seriously hindered his performance as a prosecutor, he nevertheless recognized that it negatively impacted his physical and mental well-being, not to mention his personal relationships. Recognizing the circumstances when they existed certainly helped, as did the fact that he now had more and more outlets than when they first got married, not the least of which were his children.
Six weeks premature and weighing just four pounds at birth, Ben and Libby’s first child, a son named Matthew, was born in October of 1993, the day before his father’s birthday. Physically, Matthew resembled his father, but with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Almost four years after Matthew was born, the Lohmeiers welcomed a little girl into the world in the late summer of 1997. Strong willed and opinionated, Natalie Lohmeier had blond hair and green eyes like her father and appeared to spend every waking moment seeking to wrap him around her little finger, usually succeeding.
Between the two of them, Matthew and Natalie provided Ben with an indispensable escape from “there” or that zone, whatever it was called. His other salvation occurred when he decided, with Libby’s strong encouragement, to leave the State’s Attorney’s office and enter private practice. As a prosecutor, Ben served as a necessary point man in society’s desire to avenge the victim and punish the guilty. In civil practice, unlike criminal practice, there are few great truths to unearth or wrongs to right, personal injury and class action lawyers notwithstanding. At least these crusades didn’t pop up in the commercial practice Benjamin Lohmeier found himself in these days. One way or another, it always boiled down to a battle over the money.
In the past couple of days, the TV news and the newspapers had started calling this the “Law School Murder” and Ben figured that the name would probably stick. They were on the verge of a lot of media attention, Ben knew, because of the nature of the crime, the nature of the soon-to-be accused and the fact there wasn’t another big media case out there at the moment to seize the headlines. Although Ben’s competitive nature made him want to win every case very badly, nothing in his day-to-day existence as a civil practitioner ever stoked his fires as hot as they used to get in the old days. That’s why he was startled to feel himself drifting down that lonely path to a place he had not visited in so long. Maybe getting back into an important criminal case caused his reaction. Maybe seeing Megan Rand as a defendant did it. He didn’t know for sure. His self-awareness had limits after all. Whatever the cause, Ben recognized the scenery and understood where this path might eventually lead.
13
Ben
At first, he didn’t even notice the changes in himself. It took Libby, after they had been together for awhile, to point out where and how these transformations, some little, some not, occurred. Over time and with his wife’s assistance, Ben became more acutely aware of these periods and the profound effect on his moods. This zone or “there,” as his wife often described it, reached its zenith while Ben was a prosecutor. As he began handling more violent cases - aggravated assaults, rapes, and even murders, and his anger and highly competitive nature more and more got the best of him, Ben went “there” with increasing frequency. Although Ben never thought that it ever seriously hindered his performance as a prosecutor, he nevertheless recognized that it negatively impacted his physical and mental well-being, not to mention his personal relationships. Recognizing the circumstances when they existed certainly helped, as did the fact that he now had more and more outlets than when they first got married, not the least of which were his children.
Six weeks premature and weighing just four pounds at birth, Ben and Libby’s first child, a son named Matthew, was born in October of 1993, the day before his father’s birthday. Physically, Matthew resembled his father, but with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Almost four years after Matthew was born, the Lohmeiers welcomed a little girl into the world in the late summer of 1997. Strong willed and opinionated, Natalie Lohmeier had blond hair and green eyes like her father and appeared to spend every waking moment seeking to wrap him around her little finger, usually succeeding.
Between the two of them, Matthew and Natalie provided Ben with an indispensable escape from “there” or that zone, whatever it was called. His other salvation occurred when he decided, with Libby’s strong encouragement, to leave the State’s Attorney’s office and enter private practice. As a prosecutor, Ben served as a necessary point man in society’s desire to avenge the victim and punish the guilty. In civil practice, unlike criminal practice, there are few great truths to unearth or wrongs to right, personal injury and class action lawyers notwithstanding. At least these crusades didn’t pop up in the commercial practice Benjamin Lohmeier found himself in these days. One way or another, it always boiled down to a battle over the money.
In the past couple of days, the TV news and the newspapers had started calling this the “Law School Murder” and Ben figured that the name would probably stick. They were on the verge of a lot of media attention, Ben knew, because of the nature of the crime, the nature of the soon-to-be accused and the fact there wasn’t another big media case out there at the moment to seize the headlines. Although Ben’s competitive nature made him want to win every case very badly, nothing in his day-to-day existence as a civil practitioner ever stoked his fires as hot as they used to get in the old days. That’s why he was startled to feel himself drifting down that lonely path to a place he had not visited in so long. Maybe getting back into an important criminal case caused his reaction. Maybe seeing Megan Rand as a defendant did it. He didn’t know for sure. His self-awareness had limits after all. Whatever the cause, Ben recognized the scenery and understood where this path might eventually lead.
13
Ben
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