My judge is at a dude ranch right now with his family on vacation, so I’m manning another courtroom which is presently engaged in a robbery jury trial. The clerk who’s normally in this courtroom took the day off to go to the Ford dealership to pick up her new 2005 Mustang Saleen.

A girl walked in with a motion that needed to be filed next door, so I instructed the bailiff to direct her there. She left, and a few minutes later the relief clerk next door came into the courtroom with her papers to reaffirm that it’s supposed to be in that department, and I explained it to him. Then he asked, “Did you go to Diamond Bar High School?” I looked up at him in surprise. “Yes…” I racked my brain for who this relief clerk was in high school; he looked a bit older than me. He then explained that the girl with the motion had asked him to find out because she had recognized me.

I had no idea who the girl was because, as usual, I made no eye contact with strangers. After learning from the relief clerk that she was still in his courtroom, I walked over, looked her square in the face and… did not recognize her. She greeted me warmly. I said, “I’m sorry…” and she took the hint and told me her name. Cathy. Oh my gosh! Is that what a little eyelid surgery does for Korean girls? She looks so cute! She and I didn’t hang out directly, but we had a lot of common friends and we would often be at the same event. I think she was even my tennis partner in PE at one point. We caught up on our common friends, I broke the news to her about Grace’s passing, and complimented each other on how we look now. Heh. I guess she changed more after HS than I did, altho she said she wasn’t totally sure it was me.