Family Archives - Shirley S. Abrahamson

Gabe Plotkin (2002-03)

Most of my memories are not stories, per se. More Chief-isms: Her inability to remember anybody’s name, and thus use of the word “friend.” Waking her up from her power naps on the couch in her office. Opinion-writing weekends, seeing us sit and write in tandem at the desks in the clerk’s office, often culminating over Saturday take out dinner, where she always ordered the tenderloin salad. Her willingness to drive me home late at night, even though it was out of the way. The shag carpet throughout her house, including the bathroom. The soft and caring heart inside her […]

Joanne Lin, smiling, next to Shirley Abrahamson

Twenty-six years after my clerkship, it’s the small things I remember, including: The power of red grapes: I didn’t know that they were Shirley’s secret manna. How many nights and weekends did we together feed on those little red things, which kept us going…

By far the most interesting case I worked on was State v. Gilbert, 115 Wis. 2d 371, 340 N.W.2d 511 (1983), which dealt with the issue of whether a child, who was the only witness to her mother’s murder, had to testify. The court established standards for arranging courtrooms to accommodate children. This work on this case set me on a career of dealing with children who are victims of child abuse and neglect. I was not involved in elections! (1982-83) However, one of the fun things Shirley authorized was playing Dreidel in the back of chambers. I introduced the […]

Gabe Plotkin (2002-03)

Joanne Lin (1997-98)

Lori Kornblum (1982-83)

Teenagers Driving

Combine Family and Careers

Family Roles

Baseball

Newspaper Carriers

Working while pregnant