Went to visit my CASA girl who lives 2 hours away. Went there on a beaten truck, put-put’ing our way on the highway. Her daddy drove, I sat beside, 4 hours on the road, with windows rolled down and still the heat scorching our elbows.
“If I waz  presiden’, first thing I do, I’d go to Deetroit and go to the car […]

A random encounter with my CASA girl, second time it’s happened while with Paul. By rule I can’t introduce my friends and family to her*, so I was happy they got to meet again.
I hadn’t seen her since she changed homes, for the 12th time in her life. The State is her care taker. Imagine […]

Visited my CASA girl Saturday, we stayed at her home. No plans, no homework, no obligations. She flopped on bed, I opened her window, we said nothing for a while then she handed me a notebook. “I’m writing my life story”.
Reading between her lines of slang, I was taken to unfamiliar scenes of her past. […]

Friday night, feeling tall, I wore high-heeled sandals and walked to a sushi bar with Ty. The weather was colder than expected. We toasted 2 glasses of beer (I drank half of Tyler’s share) and we indulged in conversation.
“I read a 26-page psych.-eval. of my CASA girl today, the report made her sound crazy. If […]

My CASA girl’s home-phone was no longer in service, and her mother’s cell-phone told me it would “get back to you as soon as I can”, but it didn’t. I got worried.
When I finally got through on the mother’s mobile and told her of my worries, she laughed and said “aw, that’s funny, this little […]

I have more memories in the kitchen than anywhere else. Sitting on the counter, talking, licking the bowl (many bowls)… smokers lighting up under the vent… putting “Ayumi’s on a diet” sign on the fridge… my brother cooking late night noodles… my father passionately talking to my mother about the state of the world while […]

An extraordinary surprise from my 13 year-old African-American CASA girl today. One of her Christmas presents was a nail-filing kit. The girl in good spirits suggested… “do you wanna see me act ‘white’?”
“Yes, yes. Of course!” I said, so she went on:
“So we went to the mall right? and guess who I saw… aw my […]

My CASA girl and I went to see the Giants baseball game. We cheered under the bright sun while […]

Back in San Francisco, I am studying the files of my CASA child. Her history of abuse and neglect in a poverty stricken, high […]

I got sworn in as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) after 3 months of weekly three hour training at a down town office in […]