To Right A Wrong

I visited with my sister, Lori, on the phone tonight. I called to make her laugh. I was hiding out in the garage while my 10-year-old daughter was wailing on the trumpet. This is her first year in 5th grade band and she is doing great. However, my nerves are a little raw. We chuckled over life’s challenges.
I asked her how her day went and she shared with me about some new volunteer work she was doing. My sister is an attorney for a worker’s compensation company that determines rates all over the United States. In her spare time (which is actually very limited during certain months of the year) she is assisting children as a guardian ad litem. I asked her what this meant, and she explained that she represents abused or neglected children in the court system. Our conversation actually had a ten second pause….
For you see, our childhood was not an easy childhood. I am sure everyone has horror stories about growing up. This writing is not to share all the gory details of a marriage that ended nightmarishly with three children used as pawns in a war between a mother and father. To shorten a three year long process: there were three custody court cases, two separate reports involving teenage runaways, warrants out for pick-up, breaking and entering, as well as physical, emotional, and mental abuse. There were no innocent parties……..it was war with all its brutalities and despair.
To actually believe my sister would want to be close to a courtroom involving child custody was unfathomable.
Lori couldn’t share specific details of the case she was involved in, but she did give me an overall rundown in generalities of the fact that she was trying to look out for the best interests of the child.
When I asked her how she could be involved with such a situation that brings up all the horrors of the past, she said, “Sheri, (I am) reliving the past…but in a way that is right. These children actually have a voice. I am actively involved in making sure things go well.” It moved my entire spirit which sang with pureness of what she was doing. She is determined “To Right A Wrong”.
Lori,
To you personally: You are my hero…fighting injustices and standing up for those unable to represent themselves. You inspire me to be a better person and I love you with all my heart.