Member-only story
Sunday Morning …Just Before 3 AM
There had been something on the radio about volunteering in the community that caught my attention. I was driving home after a long day, first teaching school and then doing an appraisal on a tract home. I pulled over and…
I pulled over and wrote down the phone number on the notepad I kept in the glove compartment.
I was familiar with the Big Brothers program even though I didn’t know anyone involved personally. But when the announcer on the radio mentioned they needed Big Sisters for girls who were waiting for a match I perked up my ears.
A couple of months later, after my background check came back clean and my fingerprints were processed through the Department of Justice it was time for me to submit the names of two character references. One of them told me there was a question asking if I had ever been unkind to a child, to their knowledge or if they believed I was the kind of person who would take advantage of a child for my own gain. I was saddened just knowing they had to ask those types of questions.
Lauren and I were matched soon after and I drove to the apartment she shared with her mother to pick her up for our first Saturday morning visit. She was eleven and in the 5th grade. I told her that was the grade I was teaching that year but she didn’t respond. Her mother was friendly but reserved and…
