Almost 30 Years: I found my Girl Guide Leader!

After returning home yesterday from our two day tenting trip with our almost twenty Brownies, I unloaded and put all of our gear into the shed. Exhausted, I continued on with my chores, still feeling the high that comes after a successful camp.

There are always kinks at camp with plans and girl conflict drama. I like to think that they are developing character through camp experience. Girls inadvertently gain independence, develop skills in conflict management, accepting consequences, and peer partnerships.

There were some behaviours that were addressed and discussed. In our discussions, I pointed out that I would like to the our girls for a week next summer to the Girl Guide camp that I attended as a Girl Guide; to do this, our older girls who are flying up in two weeks would need to try to make better decisions, think about consequences and learn to resolve issues amongst themselves.

I told the girls about my Girl Guide days. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I will be changing branches in September. I look forward to Girl Guides, and how we can do even more exciting activities.

In reminiscing about Girl Guides I think about my Guider, Mrs. Thompson. She was kind, and did not put up with my shenanigans. I was a bit of a handful.

She challenged me to work harder, and even refused a badge to me once. She told me to put forth more effort into it and to present the following week.

I remember how outdoorsy she was, and how she loved to camp. She was a no-nonsense, no-frills kind of woman. If my own parents taught me something or did an activity, it was not the same. Mrs. Thompson knew everything in my eyes! I would tell my parents that was not the way Mrs. Thompson did it. Which I suppose is how girls see Guiders.

So yesterday evening, I took to Google. I moved away almost 30 years ago, maybe she did to? But, I wanted to try.

I searched her name and could not find it. I searched the street I remember her living on, and found a Mr. Thompson. The number was no longer in service. Within a few minutes I found a Mr. Thompson in a neighbouring town. I dialed, and guess who answered?

It took her a minute to remember me. I said 'I was the overly-tall, chubby, attitude-giving, pink glasses wearing brat who loved Guides'. She remembered me!

I told her that I had been a Guider in Sparks, now Brownies, and am excited about moving to Guides with my daughter. I told her that I had been telling my girls stories about my Guider who inspired and challenged me, and about how I plan to take our girls to our old camp site to do something different with them.

She said, 'we always went to the same site: Mic Mac at Camp Wa-Thik-Ane' in Morin Heights, QC. 'I always picked the same site, because it was right at the water'.

She said that she was thrilled that I remembered her! She old me how she had always loved and kept Guiding, even after her children had grown.

In 1967, Mrs. Thompson attended a large Girl Guide camp in honor of Canada's Centenary in Ontario. 'There were 2000 girls there. I still get goosebumps when I hear our National Anthem, because we all stood up and sang it together'.

She thanked me for calling her, and said that 'you made my day'!

I said that I had been thinking about her a lot, and wanted her to know what a difference in my life she had made, and to thank her for challenging me and not putting up with my attitude!

I am looking forward to our future Guiding endeavors. I hope that I can live up to the high standards that Mrs. Thompson set as a Guider. I will never forget those three years you gave to me in the 1980's. Thank you Mrs. Thompson.

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