Thoughts from Dr. Joe: Endeavors do not end, they are reborn
The past beats inside me like a heart, and I suppose that’s the curse of the quixotic. I need my memories; they keep the wolf of insignificance from knocking on my door.
Last Sunday I sat in the Gold Girl leader section at the La Cañada Gold Award Ceremony in Lanterman Auditorium. I saw glimpses of faces of girls and parents and memories of backpacking trips and the million and one zany adventures of Troop 8891. Since the last of our girls were receiving their Gold award, the ceremony was our swan song. All endeavors have an origin; yet, they are finite, and since 8891 began, so it must end. However, the moment of our last hurrah was well made.
I recall the troop’s origin. It was 14 years ago. Kaitzer was teaching a night course at city college and asked if I’d attend the Girl Scout information meeting at La Cañada Elementary. I had better things to do, but since my mother didn’t raise no fool, I complied. My attention span is that of a 3-year-old; subsequently, my only memory of the meeting was someone asking for a volunteer to lead the new LCE Daisy troop.
Before I deployed overseas, my Uncle Joe, who volunteered as a raider with Col. Carlson in the South Pacific, explicitly said, “Don’t volunteer for anything.” But since I liked the smell of gunpowder, I volunteered for everything.
You’ve heard the axiom “old habits die hard.” Well, I’m not sure whether it was a knee-jerk reaction or not, but I raised my hand and became the new leader of Daisy Troop 8891. German philosopher Goethe said, “When one commits, then Providence moves too,” and Marta Cea volunteered to be my assistant. We were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and sometimes, Thelma and Louise. Regardless, we took our girls from crayons to perfume.
Goethe also said, “Commitment unleashes a whole stream of events raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents of assistance.” True. The troop was blessed with remarkable families, and I couldn’t have done it without them. And then there was Christy Stephen, who carried 8891 to the end.
I left my moment of imagery and returned to the present and saw the little scouts of Troop 7051 present the colors. Father Tony Marti, president of Saint Francis High School, gave a heartfelt invocation. Then, Christie Frandsen, the matriarch of La Cañada Girl Scouts, said, “There are 10 million members in 146 countries across, the largest voluntary movement in the world dedicated to transforming the lives of girls who make the world a better place.”
She quoted Juliette Low, “Do well your part today. The work of today is the history of tomorrow and we are its makers.” That perspective is the perennial mantra of Ms. Frandsen.
With 1,012 girls and 677 adults, organized into 103 troops, La Cañada’s commitment to Girl Scouts flourishes. On Sunday, nearly 100 girls received their Bronze award, 62 their Silver, and 36 young women received Girl Scouting’s highest award: Gold. Ms. Frandsen calculated that La Cañada Girl Scouts gave the world 8,424 hours of service. The Gold Ceremony is a celebration of scouting’s foundational virtues and recognition of service.
In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a bird whose life ends in a ferocious inferno. Yet, it is immortal, and from its ashes, a fledgling phoenix rises. Renewed and reborn! My Girl Scouts have followed the natural cycle of life and have moved on to higher ground, and that’s what they should do. And the little girls at the ceremony will replace them. Thus, endeavors never end; they’re reborn.
Christie Frandsen said, “Dr. Joe, congratulations on your retirement.” I guess that’s all she wrote. I think I’ll go to Texas. Maybe become a country singer in Luckenbach, write the sequel to the Great American Novel or maybe I’ll join the Texas Rangers.
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JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
