Jury Duty

Lucky for Thomas, I had jury duty yesterday which means Thomas got to play with Daddy all day! I kissed them both as I headed out the door but I honestly didn't think I'd be selected to serve and I'd be back home before Thomas' first nap. Wrong! Of course I was selected.
I was terribly anxious about serving on the jury, and when I realized this would be the longest I had been away from Thomas I got a bit emotional.
The entire morning was devoted to jury selection, a long process of eliminating 12 of 18 jurors to be left with the final six. All the questioning involved was stressful to me. Luckily my questions were not the most difficult. After three hours, I was chosen by the defending attorney as juror number six. We were dismissed for lunch and trial would begin at 1:30. When the time came to head to the court room, my head was pounding, I had a knot in my stomach and to top it off the court house was freezing cold. We entered the room from behind the bench, everyone was standing to honor us. We were sworn in and then seated for opening statements. All of a sudden I wasn't so nervous anymore. This was so interesting to me, I felt honored to have such an important responsibility. As I listened to the opening statements I couldn't help but notice the emotions the defendant was experiencing as his attorney explained the terrible situation that had brought us all to this court room. At this point no evidence has been presented so he is technically an innocent man but after the opening statement I know in my heart, no evidence will prove him guilty.
We weren't more than 20 minutes into the trial before we were given a five minute "comfort break." I immediately realized we'll never get out of here if we have a break every 20 minutes. Little did I know it would be time to call upon the witnesses but none of them had shown up. Needless to say, the trial is over! Just like that, the defendant is a free man! And I am free to go home to my precious baby!
I am grateful for the experience and when I receive my next summons, instead of looking at it as an inconvenience, I will be honored to accept such an important civil responsibility.