Laura C. (Brownie - Junior)

On a beach in California, hands are shaping the sand into a heart. They furrow deep and insert a single wick, pouring in hot white wax after it. Later on the body of the hands sits on the same beach around a campfire smelling the sweet smell of the cake cooking over the flames in a mini oven as it sings songs like Going on a Bear Hunt and Titanic. That body and those hands belong to Laura, the beach was in Carpinteria, California, the time was the late 70s and early 80s.

Laura’s troop was as close as Velcro strap is to a new shoe, they were stuck together. They all went to the same school, all went to the same birthday parties and even went on trips together, each-others names were constant on each-others guest list. Today, even though they have gone there separate ways around the country, they still keep in touch via Facebook and treasure the same memories of how their troop leader impacted their lives, making them feel so loved and important.

Going back to when they were a troop, they also did the typical Girl Scout things. They earned badges for camping, baking and service. They went to Girl Scout Camp on Catalina Island to learn how to go sailing and make lanyards. They also did plenty of skits.

Each mother in Laura’s troop had a special talent, and one mother in particular was a star with dramatic productions. Laura remembers (and still has some videotapes) doing the different skits this mother helped produce; there was Snow White and there was also The Three Bears. Laura also remembers the things the other troop mothers taught her. In Girl Scouts, she learned about hard work and respecting people’s differences. They also taught her that she could, like the boys and men, do anything she wanted when she grew up, and to be strong and independent. The troop mothers made a big impact in her life, and she hopes that she can be that kind of influence to her daughter and her daughter’s friends.

Laura was the first Girl Scout in a family of Indian Maidens (her grandmother, mother and sister), but she hopes that she isn’t the last.