I met my friend Nina when I was 13. She was 12. We were both Girl Scouts. I was a Cadette; she was a Junior. As far as I can remember, I don't think her troop was working with a Cadette troop on bridging activities. She was wanting to bridge, so she did her bridging activities with my mother's Junior troop, which was working with my Cadette troop. Being the daughter of a Junior leader, I also did many Junior activities when I could. I remember this one time, my mother's troop went to Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. One of her girls didn't show up. They waited and waited. My mother was not going to let the space go to waste, so she "dragged" me to the event. Not that I minded at all!

Back to Nina. Because of the bridging activities and interacting with my mother's troop, I got to know her. We quickly became friends. At that age, she really was the best friend I had. She would come to my house, or I go to her house. She never made fun of me loving Richard Marx. I'd joke she could pass as Pauly Shore's sister. He was on the big acts of the time. She would help me when I had to watch the neighbor kids. Her parents took me to Carowinds the summer I was 14. That was a blast.

Her mother filled in for my mother on a Girl Scout trip when my Grandmother was ill. On that trip, Nina and I did a lot of activities together when I wasn't doing events with my sister. Yes, for some dumb reason, Council decided that Nicki and I belonged in the same activities for that trip. The other troop leaders were impressed we did the same activities. They were surprised when we would say we didn't plan this. And because we were sisters, they decided that Nicki and I were to be each other's buddy. Well, that did work for the gemstone activity. Since I had done it before, I was able to tell Nicki what to do to minimize torture. I don't understand how an event meant to foster individualism would do that to us.

Back to Nina again. After we moved to Georgia, I lost contact with her. I thought I'd never hear from her again. That's just part of the military brat lifestyle. Out of sight, usually out of mind. Not me. Nina found me around my birthday in 2004. It was so nice to get an e-mail from her. We've been in contact since, when I'm not busy with my life and when she's not busy with her life. It has done me some good to have her back in my life. Just this morning she provided me with a laugh in my inbox. I just wish we didn't live far away from each other. I'd like to see her again. I guess I just need to make my way back to North Carolina one day, when I'm not just driving through to get north. Part of me has decided if I can't get a job in Nashville, a job in North Carolina wouldn't be too bad.

I went to the Wesley lunch today. I missed last week's due to the ACM meeting for my scholarship. Today's sermon was from Reaching for Rainbows by Ann Weems, specifically the passage "Christmas Trees and Strawberry Summers." We discussed doing the good and taking the bad with it. We also discussed the difficulty it is to do the right thing when you see others "succeeding" by do the bad. After the lunch, offered a ride to the other side of the campus to one of the girls at lunch. She usually hangs out in the IT lounge. I figured if I'm heading that way, go ahead and offer her a ride. We spoke briefly, and she gave me a card about the church services she attends.

While I was at the Wesley lunch, I registered for this year's Georgia Wesley Student Movement retreat. It will be in north Georgia, since it was in south Georgia last year. I had a nice time last year. Plus, I need a retreat. I need some personal time for me.

[♪ Listening to: "Ziggy" - Céline Dion]

Posted by Shawn at January 30, 2006 4:04 PM in General, Schooling.