Bold Decisions: Memoirs of a Judge, Lawyer, Teacher and Working Mom (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798878573849)

It is a Friday morning in September 1991. I am seated high on the platform with others beside me, mostly men. As I glance around, I see a room filled with people, more arriving still. It is a large, gorgeous, imposing room like a castle with panelled walls, crown molding on the ceiling and rows of seating like pews in an auspicious church. On the wall behind the podium stands a replica of the British coat of arms, featuring a gold shield with gold scales of justice topped by a golden maple leaf and the Royal Crown. As I continue to view the developing crowd, I spot a box to my right where my family members, my mother, husband and children are seated. I smile at them and they begin to wave back. More family members and friends come into sight as they are seated in the body of the courtroom along with police officials in full police regalia and many distinguished members of the Bar and the community. The session is called to order. I am asked to step down to swear the Oath of Allegiance, promising to be faithful and bear allegiance to the Queen, sign the legal register and be formally gowned. A black silk cape and red sash are now carefully hoisted over my shoulders. My heart begins to pound as I return to my seat on the dais.

As a young unhappy teenager, Sandra longs to be thin and popular. Friends ignore her. She is denied entry to the school choir. Her relationship with her mother is loving but superficial. She is very aware of the beauty of her twin sister while she hates her own increasing mass of freckles, frizzy hair, and chubby body. Her first boyfriend ghosts her and Sandra embarrasses herself trying to bandage volley of hurts. She dreams of a future that encompasses more understanding and tolerance.

Then, after she meets her person, Jerry, in University at age 20, Sandra slowly gains confidence, and becomes a high school teacher. By age 30, she has four children and when the kids are nine, seven, four and three, she enters law school and the challenge of being a working mother begins. The rest is history as Sandra continues to struggle with the judicial world and becomes a champion of many meaningful causes over a lifetime. How did she do it?


Author: Sandra Chapnik
ISBN-13: 9798878573849
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 02/23/2023
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.65d