Chapter 20
That fall, I started my new job.
Caseworker for Child Protective Services.
The same agency that had once knocked on my door, ready to take my kids.
The lawyer thought I was crazy.
Sarah thought I was crazy.
Even Dr. Chen raised an eyebrow.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “After everything they put you through?”
“I’m sure,” I said. “Because I know what it’s like to be on the other side. I know what it’s like to have someone show up at your door, ready to judge you before they even know you. I know what it’s like to be a good mom who’s fighting for her kids against people who think they know better. And I also know what it’s like to be a kid who’s really being hurt, and no one will listen. I can be the person who listens. Who gets it right. Who doesn’t just check boxes. Who actually helps.”
Dr. Chen smiled.
“You’re gonna be good at this,” she said.
She was right.
I was good at it.
Because I didn’t just see cases.
I saw people.
Mothers who were doing the best they could with what they had.
Fathers who’d made mistakes but were trying to be better.
Kids who just wanted someone to see them.
To hear them.
To believe them.
My first case was a seven-year-old boy named Jax.
His father had left.
His mom was working three jobs to keep a roof over their heads.
She’d left him home alone for two hours one night when she had to go in for an emergency shift.
A neighbor had called CPS.
They were gonna place Jax in foster care.
I looked at the file.
Mom had no prior record.
No history of abuse or neglect.
Jax was a straight-A student.
Well-fed.
Well-loved.
Just… alone for two hours because his mom had no other choice.
I didn’t take him.
Instead, I found a free after-school program.
Connected Mom with a food bank.
Got her on the list for subsidized childcare.
Helped her file for child support.
Three months later, Mom was down to one job.
Jax was in after-school care every day.
They were doing great.
Mom brought me cookies at Christmas.
Jax gave me a drawing he’d made of us holding hands.
I taped it to my desk.
Right next to Ethan’s letter.
That’s when I knew.
All the pain.
All the fighting.
All the tears.
It hadn’t been for nothing.
It had prepared me for this.
To be the person I’d needed when I was going through it.
To be the person Jax and his mom needed.
To be the person for a hundred more kids and a hundred more families.
Good could come from evil.
May you like
Light could come from dark.
You just had to be willing to build it yourself.
