This is a season of thanks. In the spirit of that season, I want to reflect on things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful I was able to become a lawyer and a judge. It’s a dream I didn’t even think to have as a girl. As a child, my work involved helping my parents on our dairy farm. In high school, I thought of becoming a journalist for my hometown paper. I had the honor of doing just that, but I also am thankful for opportunities I never had imagined and mentors along the way who encouraged me to strive beyond what I already knew. As a result, I earned a law degree from Mizzou, clerked for a state Supreme Court judge and came home to practice law in Hannibal. 

I am thankful for all the people I was able to help as a Missouri lawyer, from those who ran businesses to those who bartered for legal services with handcrafted items or produce. I am thankful for my law partners and others who encouraged me to shift from being a legal advocate to a judge, to serve the people who rely on the courts to protect their rights. I lost both my parents around the same time I was appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri, but every day since then, I have believed they would be proud of the work I have been so fortunate to do.

I am thankful for all my Court colleagues, both past and present. We may not always agree, but we are not disagreeable, and each of us works hard to follow the law and do what is right. I am especially thankful to be serving at this moment in our state’s history — the first time we’ve had a female majority on our state’s highest court. When I began practicing law, there were few female lawyers and no women on the Court, and so it was something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. But I hope it serves as a call to all Missouri children, no matter their gender, to believe they too can become state Supreme Court judges, if that is their dream. 

Most importantly, I am thankful for the thousands of staff working every day in hundreds of local courthouses throughout Missouri. They are the heroes of our courts. Theirs are the faces seen by the Missourians who have cases in our courts. Theirs are the voices on the phone, patiently listening to the fears and frustrations of their fellow citizens. They are the clerks, bailiffs, juvenile officers, jury supervisors, court administrators and other staff who together form the team of people who make our legal system function well. 

I also am thankful, as I’ve grown older and, I think, wiser, for learning how important it is not just to listen but to really hear what people have to say. So, during my two years as chief justice, I plan to visit every one of our 46 judicial circuits to thank our local court employees for everything they do … and to listen to their ideas for how we could do things better.

Our local court employees, like so many others in our communities, are overworked and underpaid. But they remain committed to their jobs — sometimes, even in the face of heartbreak and tragedy in cases they encounter — because they believe in the rule of law, they are passionate about helping others, they recognize our courts are not just soulless institutions that decide millions of cases a year. They understand, for the individuals involved in all those cases, how meaningful it is to be able to turn to a court for relief in a dispute. 

I have seen firsthand how these dedicated men and women are at the heart of our courts. So, the next time you encounter a Missouri court employee – whether in the courthouse or in the community, at church, in the grocery store, or at your child’s ball game – please take a moment to say “thank you.” And I wish you and those you love all the best this holiday season.