It’s Friday afternoon
again, not quite 50 degrees, raining, and cold outside. I shiver when I think
this will be the HIGH in Iceland. My
daughters come home from school exhausted as usual after a long week of busy days and late nights
with school work and collapse into a fast power nap. They can do nothing but sleep! But I need
help…. Girl Scouts have met at my house for five years now – hard to believe it has been so long. For some
reason, we’re never quite ready…..the counters are dirty, dishes in the sink, random clothes dropped on
couches, the bathrooms needs a quick swipe. We’re out of paper towels again – who used the last
of the toilet paper and didn’t replace it? We do a quick surface clean.
The doorbell rings – the
first Girl Scout arrives. There are squeals and shrieks and lots of excited
talking – everything that has
happened in the last week gets aired. More girls pile in from the dark rainy evening, shedding shoes and
notebooks and journals and bags in a pile at the door. They talk about EVERYTHING – and no subject
is barred, and they get louder and louder and louder – there is lots of laughter. The energy in the
room is palpable – joyous and exuberant. They have been waiting all week for this time with their
friends.
One of the families brings
dinner. What IS it? YUM! The girls pull out the tiny dining room table and add chairs and
tablecloths and dishes and napkins and silverware and candles and in ten minutes, the empty room
is now a table set neatly for 9. We sit, and the girl who brought the meal explains each dish – one
night it could be a French meal native to the Ivory Coast, another a soup
native to Taiwan, or an English
meal in preparation for the trip. We sing a grace. We eat. We are so glad to be together again.
Ms. Susan
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