I have been a Girl Scout leader for the past five years and have been involved in scouting for about 14 years. There have been definite ups and downs with silly scout politics within service units and at council-level. There have been definite ups and downs with the kids – from scouts who had terrible, destructive attitudes to working with the truly needy girls.
But in the last 36 hours, it all came down to one hug today as my reason for being a Girl Scout leader. And it wasn’t from either of my daughters. One girl in my troop desperately needed to get involved with a group of girls who were role models. We’ve worked with her on grooming, how to dress modestly, using indoor voice, sharing, treating other girls with respect … the whole gamut. Honestly, all the girls in my troop of just-now-teenagers have needed guidance in all these areas, but this one really needed a little bit extra.
I received a call yesterday afternoon from her. Crying, she told me her Mom was missing. Her Mom is a home health care nurse and had gone to her first appointment. She never made it to her next appointment. Nor her next. No phone calls. No nothing. The family contacted the police and as word got out, we started prayer chains. The best case scenario that we could think of was maybe Mom just needed some space and time alone to think, you know? Though it felt harsh to think that, it was the least disturbing of the terrible things that raced through our minds.
My girl went to the police station with her Dad and waited as he was questioned. We texted back and forth and I let her know how much she was loved and if she needed me or my co-leader, we were there for her. Even through this drama, we moved forward with the yard sale that had been planned for months. The other moms in the troop hosted it today to raise money for a summer trip. Our girl called and asked if she could come – she needed to get out of the madness at her house for awhile. My troop co-leader picked her up and when she came, we all hugged her. It didn’t take long for the girls to fall back into their usual discussions about boys.
After about an hour, she came up to me with her arms out. I hugged her back and she held the hug for about two minutes. It felt like 30 minutes as she laid her head on my shoulder and cried. It was then that my full potential as a Girl Scout leader had been met. One hug. One hug that told a scared girl that no matter what, she was loved. That no matter what, there would be someone there to embrace her and comfort her. There was someone who truly cared about what would happen to her. I don’t know if I’ll ever again get a hug like that from anyone – my own children, grandchildren someday? But I was glad I had been in her life so at that moment when she needed it, I was there.
About three hours later, we finally heard the news that her Mom contacted the family. SAFE. I don’t know what happened. I’m pretty sure I don’t WANT to know. But I’ll never forget that one hug.
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