The quote is from the film Woman in Gold (2015), uttered by the young lawyer, E. Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), who assisted the elderly Jewish refugee, Maria Altmann née Bloch-Bauer (Dame Helen Mirren), in fighting the government of Austria for nearly a decade to reclaim Gustav Klimt’s iconic painting of her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer, Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer I. One of the five paintings had been confiscated in the looting and pillaging by the Nazis against Jewish families, when its forces arrived in Vienna. The young Schoenberg, the grandson of composer Arnold Schönberg, at first was in for the money. Then, the history of the past – the Nazis history of Vienna — had moved him so much that he became inspired: he risked his future, his family, his financial security to pursue the restitution case in a rather fanatic manner, which had frighted Altmann, who, being elderly, wanted to return “to my (her) quiet life.”
Being old, I shared Altmann’s common sense, needing security and a peaceful life. Mr. D Beamer, attorney for the NAPAA, gave me sensible advice of accepting what had happened to me as a bad experience and leaving it behind to get on with my golden age by living a quiet life. In his view Allstate would crush me in court. Being, perhaps, young in heart, I wanted to stand up and punch back like Schoenberg. I felt our forefathers’ spirit of 1776 still inspired me – I have the American fever just as Schoenberg had the Austria fever burning inside him. It was a to-be or not-to-be moment for me.
At that time, the idea of pro se had not dawned on me yet. I would seek and rely on the help of legal professionals to fight the battle. For any lawsuit, it is taxing and demanding. Apart from financial concerns, do I, a 73 old man then, have the mental and physical capacity and strength to sustain a legal fight? I did not want to leave in my estate a messy lawsuit to my sons and granddaughters. Before any move on my part, I should have a checkup, both mental and physical.
I decided to go to Mayo Clinic for the checkup, because I wanted to seek help on my sleep apnea ailment from Mayo, who might design a lifestyle/alternative treatment program, which could lessen the severity of the ailment. Without deep sleep, my brain would not function the next day. I need deep sleep (rapid eyes movement sleep or REM). Mayo had incorporated into traditional Western medicine the alternative preventive treatments of Eastern medicine. It is a “place for hope when there is no hope” for a complete cure of sleep apnea.
By July 2020, I knew I could not sell my agency. The termination date of my agency was 8-31-20. I flew to Mayo on 8-16-20 and returned on 8-21-20 with the permission of Ann Smith, my manager. Once I knew that, other than sleep apnea, I was healthy. I decided to fight back. And acquired basics on pro se litigant.