Are you Miss Kati?
My first case as an advocate with Piedmont CASA was back in 2007. She was a twelve-year-old who had been put in foster care due to neglect. As with many kids in the system, her home life was difficult and complicated. We wanted her to stay with family, but it was close to three years before one of her relatives was vetted and able to take her in.
I stood by her the entire time. Through our program with Emerson, we provided her with practical things like backpacks, and luxuries like holiday presents and occasional birthday treats. But the most important part was just spending time with her, listening, learning, crying, and laughing. We’d sit in the park and talk about school, sports and hobbies. Her teachers found her to be a good student, but when she put her mind to it, she excelled. I was often impressed by her people skills, and enjoyed her contagious sense of humor.
Once she was safe with her relative, the court closed the case. Fast-forward three years: I was in the checkout lane of a local grocery when I noticed the young lady cashier kept looking at me. Finally, she whispered, “Are you Miss Kati?” There’s a lot of growing up between the ages of 15 and 18, so I didn’t recognize her right off. But when I saw her name tag, I looked again, and the memories came flooding back.
“Yes,” I said, “I am.” She gave me a smiling thumbs up, which I echoed. It was a charming way to maintain confidentiality in such a public place. From then on, I always tried to check out in her lane and our secret thumbs up communication continued for quite a while.
For many good reasons, we rarely get to see our kids once they find that safe, permanent home. When children have endured so much, made it through the darkest time of their lives, a stable family is the safe haven where they can finally heal and forget. But we always remember them. Scores of children are etched in my heart. I never stop wanting them to have happy childhoods and grow up into rewarding adult lives. For the most part, these are just hopes and dreams – which is why that brief, accidental intersection of my life and hers was golden. It makes me smile to think that the time we spent together so many years ago was not forgotten, and that it continues to resonate in her adult life.
I hope that I’ll run into her again.
