Greetings Troop Parents, 

I was working on our webpage Journey section and the word itself was resonating. This journey of home schooling and working from home and being in constant contact with every member of my household, sometimes feels like a long, long, long winding road. Just when I think we are starting to see the light, a plan for school, my WFH chair finally arrived, a new challenge pops up.

My gratitude for the blessings in my life has never been deeper. But this is hard. And I hear it from every mom and dad that I speak with. I learned this week that the husband of my oldest, dearest friend has terminal cancer. There is a very slim chance he will pull up and if anyone can it is him, with his infectious smile, endless energy, and deep and abiding love for my bestie and their two boys. But man, what a whopper to pile on top of everything else. She is the strongest, most stable woman I know. She is a nurse practitioner and a pragmatist, so she is already engaging the family in what dad calls "forced family meditation" to ensure they have a daily touchstone to let go of their worries and just BE together. She and I have been on this journey together for more than 30 years now and it is crushing thinking there is nothing material I can do to help her.

But that isn't what she tells me when she needs when she has a quick chance to pick up the phone and check in. She doesn't need me to drive them to the doctor, or watch the kids, she has plenty of family and friends in her home state to help with logistics. What she needs, in her words, is "a friend, someone that knew me before COVID, before Trump, even before I met Michael, to remind me that I am a complete person, that I have lived a life outside of my family."

Those words pierced me right in the heart. She needed me to remind her that she is a full person on her own. That she has the strength and creativity to manage anything that comes her way.  That is what girls and women do for each other. When all else fails our girlfriends are our rock. The relationships these girls are forming now may not last 30 years. But we are teaching them a foundational truth that will serve them for life. That is that girls and women can learn and grow together and support each other through life's trials. This is why I love Scouts. This is why I am so happy to serve as a Troop Leader. It is a privilege to lead each and every one of your girls and I am grateful now more than ever to have this job. Sure, it's one more thing to do, but it carries profound meaning to me. I can only hope the girls get out of it a fraction of what I am getting. Thank you for letting me be part of their journey.

-Phoenix