I must apologize that this week I have been slack with posting to my new blog.  It was not until yesterday that I finally tore myself away from my other busy work and realized that I was neglecting all of you.  Someone on Facebook reminded me that the Girl Scout Cookie season had begun.

Here we are at the time of year when we will get bombarded by giggling young girls who will block the entrances of banks and grocery stores in last stitch effort to hu$tle our dollars and “force” us to buy box after box of tasty treats.

I remembered that I was once one of those Girl Scouts who sold many, many boxes of cookies.  Back then, we did it different.  With my fellow Girl Scout troop members we proposed to “divide and conquer!”.  We paired up with a partner and split the neighborhood, walking door-or-door selling the old-fashioned way.

I was involved in Girl Scouting in some form or another until well after I graduated from Senior High School.

Yesterday, as the memory of Cookie Sales entered my mind, a smile came to my face as I thought about my some of my experiences as a Girl Scout.  Some experiences were good and some were bad, but ALL of the experiences taught me lessons that I have carried throughout my adult life.

Through scouting, I have met many friends – many whom I still remain in very close contact.

I value all the friends I have.  Mainly because I’ve always felt that true friends are like irreplaceable gifts.  Our friends come into our lives for reasons unknown.  Some are there for short times – some are there for a life time. Some we talk to every day – others we may go weeks, even years without hearing from them or contacting them.  Some friends are our crutches whom we lean on to make it through life’s journeys – Others depend on our strength and lean solely on us.

I have one friend in particular, whose friendship I have valued for many, many years.  And probably unless she reads this, she may never really know how much.

We met over 40 years ago.  She – a blonde haired 10-year-old girl, with a personality much like mine.  I would probably describe us, as “cute” little girls with a tomboyish edge.  Both of us were as crabby, cynical, bossy, and loud mouth as Lucy Van Pelt from the Peanuts comic strip.

And though we did not attend the same Elementary School, we became fast friends and confidants during our 5th grade school year in 1972.

A strange dynamic – our only interaction occurred during our weekly Girl Scout Troop meetings with 30 other very impressionable little girls.  Needless to say, the other girls were probably not as “bold” or as “alive” with personality as she and I.

The Girl Scout Law (Circa 1972)
I will do my best:
to be honest
to be fair
to help where I am needed
to be cheerful
to be friendly and considerate
to be a sister to every Girl Scout
to respect authority
to use resources wisely
to protect and improve the world around me
to show respect for myself and others through my words and actions

Ah, yes, Girl Scouts.

And now, this year – some 40 years later, as she and I each will turn 51 years old, we can sit back and laugh about our experiences.

I can only image that enrolling us in a Girl Scout Troop must have been some last stitch effort by our Mothers to salvage some of the “little girl” personality they had hoped we would develop before we stepped into Junior High School.  Maybe we would act more like “little ladies”.

And summer came quickly that year.  Girls like us needed to be kept busy or take a chance at an opportunity {Yes – any opportunity} to get into trouble and undo the good that our Mother’s had cultivated while forcing us to live the Girl Scout life.

So, AWAY we went!   We were sent to away to Girl Scout summer camp! Yippee! ~ SIGH.
Two weeks of living in cabin huts in the woods of Lizella, Georgia.  Summer life among the fire ants and garden snakes, brown bats, and wood rats.

Unbeknownst to each of us – out of an 8-week summer, luck had it that she and I were enrolled in the same summer session, for the same two weeks, and once there, we were assigned to bunk in the same cabin with 8 other girls.
Was that Fate, Fortune, or Coincidence?

And oh… the stories we now tell about our adventures in the “wild” during that notorious summer!  I think we kept the “trouble” kettle brewing for most of those 14 days… What a joyous summer we had!

I am not sure, but for whatever reason, I don’t think our paths came close again until 2 years later when we began Junior High School.

I would never describe us as having been “Best Friends”,  but we have continued to maintain a very unique friendship for many years.

As the years progressed, we attended many of the same social events and were members of the same clubs and activities.  Our Junior High and Senior High School years, were spent attending the same schools.

Often times, we sat in the same classroom.  It was not unusual that we may not have said more than a few words to each other during any given school year, yet we remained friends.

Our lives were very similar – almost parallel, yet never not quite the same.  We maintained our friendship from afar, but continued to travel along different paths.

We have not lived in the same city since we graduated from High School.
We have never shared ALL of our life experiences with each other and to this day there is much that we still don’t know about each other.

Yet, at various times during the past many years, we have discussed our experiences with the single life, married life, the birth of children, and the loss loved ones.
Through it all, we’ve managed to maintain some semblance of our friendship.

At any given time – for any reason – if we needed to reach out to one another, we have always been able to do so.

To each other, we have been the epitome of the unknown accomplice often described in many a well written best-selling novel.

How odd a Friendship is this?

Last week, I managed to “pocket dial” her… long distance. Once I realized what I had done, BUT before she had a chance to answer – I hung up and ended the call.
Within 10 minutes, my cell phone rang.

It was her:
“Hey, Girl Scout!  I just saw that you called.  Is everything all right?  Are you OK?”

I laughed hysterically as I told her what happened and so did she.

We ended the call with both of us saying: “I love you, Girl!”  and with the joint knowledge that she and I will always be those goofy 10-year-old little Girl Scouts from Robins Air Force Base Troop #197.

Who knows when we will chat again?  But, no matter – I know that she is always there for me and vice versa.

Who is YOUR Girl Scout?
EVERYBODY has one.
Give her a call – TODAY.

The Girl Scout Promise
On my honor, I will try:
To do my duty to God and My Country
To help other people at all times.
And live by the Girl Scout Law.