Her name is Tara . . .

We were first introduced in January of this year. She came into my office to register for school. Tall and gangly, with caramel colored hair falling over her face hiding her darkened expression, avoiding eye contact with me. Her grandmother dragged in behind her, and explained the burdensome guardianship of her granddaughter -- Child Protective Services had taken her away from her mother and now she had been given temporary conservatorship.

"The thought of having to take this child on to raise is more than I can bear," the old lady said many times and many ways through the course of the registration. The grandmother talked loudly and the girl winced each time she spoke. My heart leapt out to her as I knew that having no choice but to move in with her was probably more than she could bear as well.

"What is your name?" I asked the thirteen year old.

"Her name is Tara," the grandmother answered for her.

"Tara," I repeated, looking at her, ignoring the grandmother. She looked into my eyes for the first time and smiled.

"I'll take those," she said as I first started to hand the paperwork to her grandmother. She completed the lengthy packet herself, asked about advanced placement classes and our gifted and talented program. Her assertiveness caught me by surprise. This girl had something special.

I saw her every once in a while over the course of the final months of the school year. I had heard that she "borrowed" some girl's pricey tennis outfit (without asking) to play in a tournament. The coaches found out that she couldn't afford much of anything and they took pity on her. She made the A honor roll which was amazing when factoring in her home life. At the end of the school year, she told everyone that she was moving back to her hometown of Sweetwater to be with her mother. She wouldn't be coming back.

Fast forward three months.

Here's Tara again in my office. Yes, with her seventy-something grandmother and odd older brother, who is acting somewhat paranoid. Tara grew quite a bit over the summer. She's almost eye level with me! And Grandmother got a nose piercing.:)

She was downhearted because the anticipated reunion with her mother had not worked out.

I was actually glad to see her. I knew at that moment I was meant to take her under my wing, but I wanted to wait to approach her about being in the Big Brother/Big Sister program until after I got back from my trip abroad. I did a few small things to ensure her first few weeks at school would go well for her and I sought her out in the halls just to touch base. I heard she told a boy that was bothering her on the school bus to go fuck himself -- and she got a detention. :) But that just shows me she's not going to take any crap off of anyone. *You go, Tara.*

This past Friday, I had lunch with her. The best half hour I've had since I've been home. Very lively conversation. Ours souls are kindred. She is an active sports chica. She loves volleyball. She loves to read. Even reads the dictionary like I do. She journals and draws and lives in her head a lot. She's passionate about music and photography. She has much more internal drive that I ever had and I know without question she will make something of herself. She just needs a sane, somewhat stable person to connect with -- and I hope to provide that for her as long as she needs me to.

Her mother is on house arrest and can only have supervised visits with her children. God only knows why. I feel that if Tara wants me to know, she will tell me. She idolizes her mom, despite whatever she had done, which is common. And it sounds like Tara has taken on the role of the adult.

I'm looking foward to our growing friendship. I had a feeling about this girl . . .