I first learned of CASA while I was still working at Mainland Medical Center, and upon my retirement in 2012, I became a CASA Volunteer. After my husband’s death in 2016, I took a break but returned to CASA just as Covid hit in early 2020.
My favorite CASA experiences were the two joyous adoptions of three of my CASA kids. There have been some tense and stressful moments, such as a jury trial and a mediation with a father brought in shackles from the jail, but my advice to new volunteers is that the rewards outweigh the stresses. In my free time, I enjoy reading, traveling, and writing. I am currently working on my second novel! I have a notebook of my favorite quotes, but one of my favorites is from Maya Angelou:
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”