Managing Partner Reminds Minions That He's Way Richer Than They Are

A holiday greeting to the firm takes a turn for the hilarious when a partner starts explaining just how much merrier his Christmas gets to be.

MONTGOMERY MCCRACKEN — HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM RICHARD SCHEFF

From: Scheff, Richard
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 12:54 AM
To: All Users
Subject: Holiday Message

All:

There are certain things that no matter what, you do at the holidays because you always do them. Whether it’s going to midnight mass, eating the seven fishes on Christmas eve, decorating the tree with certain people on a certain day, cutting down a tree at a tree farm, setting up the menorah in a certain place in the house, giving Hanukkah gelt to the kids, or going out for chinese food on Christmas day, there are certain things we all do year in and year out. As the fiddler on the roof said, “Tradition!!” And by the way, it’s all about tradition — it’s what connects us, what sets us apart and what creates memories of a lifetime.

The earliest Christmas I celebrated was in 1973, when I was a freshman in college. My roommate (now a federal judge in New Hampshire) was from Massachusetts and I would spend Christmas with his family about 30 miles or so northwest of Boston. It was cold, there was always snow on the ground and we went from house to house on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, all over the community, stopping to see his family friends and relatives, having a bite to eat and a short, or long, drink everywhere we stopped. At his house, the wood stove in the kitchen sitting room was always lit, day or night, and someone was always passing through to say hello and Merry Christmas. Everyone kept tins of cookies, pies, pastries, cases of beer and soda and bottles of wine on the back porch — the New England winter was a natural refrigerator. I brought a slice of Hanukkah to their world as well. We lit candles and I said the blessings; they joined me in the celebration without any understanding of what that celebration was, but they made sure to include it as part of their celebration. I did that for four years; it was our tradition.

And I love our traditions today more than anything. For Hanukkah, we always make latkes — my grandmother’s recipe, handed down to me as a boy. I’d stand on a chair next to her in the kitchen watching her grate the potatoes and onion and listening to her repeat the recipe each time we made them. I can still hear her voice telling me to be careful not to skin my knuckles and to make sure I didn’t get burned by the oil. For Christmas, we spend a weekend in New York at the Palace Hotel, go to Serendipity for a terribly caloric lunch and incredibly decadent desserts. We see a few shows and the Rockettes, wait in line to get into FAO Schwartz, we go ice skating at Rockefeller Center, wander the streets and stay up too late and get up too early. We even get the same chocolate cake at the Palace for dessert after the show.

On the home front, we always get at least two trees, sometimes three, and I do my best not to hit the chandelier in the foyer….I did that a few years ago and it wasn’t pretty — crystals flying everywhere smashing on the marble floor. For $25 bucks, we have the trees delivered and set up — I’m just not taking that risk with the chandelier ever again. Our landscaper decorates outside and she is a perfectionist — the work she does is simply spectacular, but a bit pricey. So, notwithstanding the medicine I take, my blood pressure spikes every time I see her bill. All that being said, she really does a great job even though my oldest son says the lights are so bright on the pear tree that he’s confident it can be seen from outer space.

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For Christmas eve, I make enough food to feed an army even though there’s only a handful of us and then help bring up the many, many presents that Natalie has so carefully selected for each of us and even more beautifully wrapped with special paper, fancy ribbons and Christmas trinkets taped to just the right spot on each box. In most years, we make a pile of banana nut breads (and I’m doing that tonight) but don’t leave cookies for Santa Clause on Christmas eve. Why would we do that when he gets cookies at every other house on the planet. No, we leave him a hamburger, complete with ketchup on the bun. And when Christmas morning finally comes around 5:30 am, each of our three foot stockings bearing our names (even our dog has one) and tacked on to the mantle of the fireplace in the Family Room are magically stuffed with gifts galore. We have our usual Christmas morning milkshakes, open presents and then head to my in-laws to do it all over again. A short nap in afternoon is followed by a traditional Christmas dinner of the same dishes cooked in the Tennessee tradition in which my in laws were raised,,,,truly a great meal. Being fat and satisfied, we then load up the car with presents and head home to the wreck of a house we left that morning. It’s simply a great day.

So, enjoy your traditions and enjoy the holidays. Let the peace and quiet that envelopes the world envelope you as well. May your favorite gifts of the season be your family and may you enjoy them and them enjoy you 365 days of the year (and 366 days in leap years). And by the way, give them a big hug and don’t be ashamed to shed a tear or two for how lucky you are that you have them and they have you. It’s ok to cry…we all do. And one final point, that reindeer damage on your roof probably is not covered by your homeowner’s insurance. Oh well, who knew?

Happy Holidays to all.

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