1/23/12 San Antonio, Texas: The Spahn Law Firm of San Antonio is honored to recognize the sacrifices of native Texan Army veteran SSgt. Shilo Harris and his family. Harris was a combat Army Cavalry veteran on his second deployment, attached to the 10th Mountain Division, I-89th Cavalry in Iraq in 2007. Severely wounded when the Bradley vehicle in which he rode struck an IED in southern Baghdad, SSgt. Harris refused treatment until his fellow soldiers were evacuated from the area. He lost three friends and received multiple facial and bodily injuries and burns on over 40 percent of his body. Now as he continues to recover at home in Texas, Harris and his wife are dedicated to helping other wounded soldiers overcome handicaps and disabilities. Harris is a motivational speaker and his wife, Kathreyn, works with the Army Wounded Warrior Project.

The Shilo Harris family is the grateful recipient of a recent visit from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s Ty Pennington and team, who traveled to Floresville in January 2012 to construct a new home for the war hero and his family. Members of the Spahn Law Firm staff were among thousands of local volunteers during the construction on the Harris home. The episode from EM:HE is set to air in December 2012.

The Spahn Law Firm wishes to personally convey a heartfelt “Thank You” to a soldier who has endured a long and painful recovery. Law firm president Matt Spahn will work with the couple to create for them a comprehensive estate plan which will meet their needs, now and into the future. Additionally, the firm has arranged for Shilo and Katheryn to attend the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover event in San Antonio and they will also receive tickets to select University of Texas San Antonio football games.

Spahn Law Firm is grateful for the dedication and service of all active and veteran military personnel. “I am so honored to be able to donate my services to this man who has given so much to our country in defense of our freedoms. We are passionate about estate planning. It protects what is most precious to people, their loved ones and those things they need in this life. We’re lucky every day we get to do this for clients, who quickly become friends,” stated Matt Spahn, owner and president.

It’s that time of year again:  time to put up the Christmas tree.  We recently did that at the office.  Dejan went out and picked up a pre-lit artificial tree.  As I stared at the box and contemplated assembling it (while everyone else at the office did the “real” work), I had mixed feelings.  The last time I had decorated an artificial tree was 1996.  This simply didn’t seem like a real Christmas tree, in more ways than one.

While I was bringing that artificial tree to life, I started making a mental list of the Pros of an Artificial Christmas Tree.

My first thought was the most obvious:  It’s FAKE!    There are a host of benefits in this fact alone.  I didn’t have to haul it inside in a net bag, leaving a trail of needles behind me.  When I have that much mess before I even get started, I am not very motivated to finish the task of decorating.  I didn’t have to cut the bottom off to make it fit in the stand.  When I put it in the stand, it was already perfectly balanced; no twisting screws to make it straight.  My mom tells a story of one Christmas when my dad actually nailed the stand into the hardwood floor because they couldn’t get it to stand up any other way.  (Can you imagine the conversation while that was taking place?)  None of that for me with this tree!  And once I had this thing fully assembled and shaped, I had no sticky tree sap covering my hands and arms.

It was time to appreciate the fact that the tree already had the lights on it.  Wow!  This saved me so much time and frustration.  I was beginning to like this tree.  It was becoming real to me.  I had spent close to an hour shaping the branches and I was proud of my handiwork.  It had come out of the box looking nothing like a tree.  It was in three misshapen pieces and now I felt like I had a work of art.

Now to call in the troops to help put the ornaments on it.  After some sheepish comments like, “I don’t know how to do this” and “Where do I put them?” everyone jumped in and dressed up our tree.   Dejan’s height was needed to get the topper in place.  We all stepped back and admired the finished product.  It was perfect.  Artfully shaped branches, bright lights, beautifully arranged decorations, no needles to be swept from the floor, no stand to fill with water.  But wait…..something was missing.

It didn’t SMELL like a Christmas tree.  There was no delightful pine scent filling the room.  “Light a scented candle,” you say.  “Spray some Christmas air freshener.”   Sure, let’s add some fake smells to go with our fake tree.

Only this didn’t seem like a fake tree anymore.  It is a real Christmas tree.  It brought us all together in the Spirit that is Christmas.  We shared stories of our families as we decorated.  We laughed and got to know each other better.

We pray, that as you gather with friends and family around your Christmas tree, that you will be blessed by the Spirit that is the reason for the season.  Merry Christmas!

I was on a men’s retreat a couple of months ago.  We would break out into our small group of twelve and talk about what we had just learned in the big group, what we thought.  The men’s ages ranged from twenty-something to 60-something.  We got to talking about high school and cars and and other manly things.  This question came up: What was the first big trouble we got into with a car?

You know the difference between a fairy tale and a Texas tale?  A fairy tale begins, “Once upon a time…”   A Texas tale starts, “Oh hell, that ain’t nothing.  One time…”

The guys began telling their stories of when they were in their junior or senior year of high school, when they were drag racing.  Then it was my turn.  My story took place at an earlier age than theirs did.  A much earlier age.

I was in the 7^th grade.  I’m from the country.  I drove the old blue Ford with the 390 and 4-speed over to the big stock pond.  My best friend and I, with our parents’ approval, were going to fish all night and camp out in the truck.  At about 2 AM, we decided to go exploring.  In the truck.  We were drawn to that nearby booming metropolis of six thousand and wanted to check things out.  It was only six miles away and we used the graveled county roads as much as possible.  Turning off one of those roads onto the paved highway made this trip a memorable adventure.  I turned too sharply and we were lurching into space and crashing into a crater. I had securely lodged the truck into the culvert.  Two rat terriers and .22 rifles tumbled out as we did, through the passenger window.

I’ve been stuck before, but this was a long walk from home.  And how was I going to sneak a tractor out of the barn and drive it all this way and pull out the truck without the cops catching us?  Then I realized, what if cops come by here before we get it out?  Luckily, a fellow who had a good truck drove up.  He was a mature man of wisdom.  He was old, twenty-something.  If he wouldn’t have been so drunk, I don’t think I would ever have been able to convince him to get a running start with the long tow chain I provided and jerk that damned truck out of its tomb.  I had to resurrect this truck and this night, or my dad would kill me.  The guy finally followed my directions and we were free.  Handshakes and hugs later, I was driving back home.  That drive and arrival to the Back 40 was pure bliss.  A few days later, my dad commented, “That passenger door is hard to open and close now.  Wonder what’s wrong with Old Blue?”  I didn’t tell for years.

Photo credit, Irargerich