Unless Someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not.
- Dr. Seuss
nothing is going to get better. It's not.
- Dr. Seuss
It sometimes feels like I am my mother reborn and that my daughter is just a younger version of me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. My mom was a wonderful woman. We had a lot of fun together, especially when scarying people with how much we sounded and acted alike. My daughter is a joy to me. Because I see so much of myself in her, I have an easier time understanding her thoughts and feelings, even when she doesn't get them. I still remember watching my (then) two-year-old daughter trying to be more stubborn than my mom about the necessity of potty training. I believe I said something like "Kid, you may be stubborn, but between the two of us, mommy and grandma have more than 75 years of experience of being stubborn on you."
My mom taught me a lot, and I count it a compliment when people say that I am like her. Right now my daughter, who is currently 9 years old, enjoys trying to be like me - we'll see if that lasts into the teenage years. I hope I am being as good an mother to her as my mom was for me. But not everyone has the benefit of having a good parent as a role model. Not every child wants to be like mom or dad.
Some kids come from homes where the parents are not good role models or are completely absent for one reason or another. These kids need help from the adults around them to see what it takes to be a productive and responsible member of society. They need people like our CASA volunteer advocates to see that they can become successful and responsible individuals regardless of where they started.
Last weekend I attended the Nebraska CASA State Conference where I got to hear from Noah benShea, who encouraged us to continue what we do, because what we do matters to the kids we meet. We heard from young men and women who used to be in the foster care system who told us about how the adults who worked with them helped them become successful and taught them that they matter. Then we heard from Lincoln-native, now LA actor/comedian and founder of the Troublemaker Foundation, Corey Craig, who told us about how he was headed down a bad path, until his Teammate and teachers showed him the consequences of the choices he was making as well as giving him an opportunity to positively channel his energies. Corey and the other foster youth are thankful to the positive role models they had, people who were not family by blood, but became family through love.
by Melody K. Coehoorn
My mom taught me a lot, and I count it a compliment when people say that I am like her. Right now my daughter, who is currently 9 years old, enjoys trying to be like me - we'll see if that lasts into the teenage years. I hope I am being as good an mother to her as my mom was for me. But not everyone has the benefit of having a good parent as a role model. Not every child wants to be like mom or dad.
Some kids come from homes where the parents are not good role models or are completely absent for one reason or another. These kids need help from the adults around them to see what it takes to be a productive and responsible member of society. They need people like our CASA volunteer advocates to see that they can become successful and responsible individuals regardless of where they started.
Last weekend I attended the Nebraska CASA State Conference where I got to hear from Noah benShea, who encouraged us to continue what we do, because what we do matters to the kids we meet. We heard from young men and women who used to be in the foster care system who told us about how the adults who worked with them helped them become successful and taught them that they matter. Then we heard from Lincoln-native, now LA actor/comedian and founder of the Troublemaker Foundation, Corey Craig, who told us about how he was headed down a bad path, until his Teammate and teachers showed him the consequences of the choices he was making as well as giving him an opportunity to positively channel his energies. Corey and the other foster youth are thankful to the positive role models they had, people who were not family by blood, but became family through love.
by Melody K. Coehoorn
Corey Craig paused to take a picture with CASA for York County volunteers and staff.
