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G950 "Warrior Princesses"
May 4, 2008

Seven adjudicated girls. Two female co-instructors. I was surrounded for 30 days.

Oh the DRAMA! Several of these girls arrived with histories of abuse. Few had had the luxury of growing up feeling that the world was a safe place. Some also had histories of substance abuse. Most had issues with self-esteem. This all added up to a tough group of girls who had difficulty trusting, difficulty separating the subjective risks we were presenting from the very real traumas in their past, difficulty believing they could be successful in overcoming these challenges. It also made for incredible highs when their trust was rewarded with healthy supportive relationships both with staff and their peers. When they were able to face down their fears, and accomplish things they thought were impossible (paddling 30+ miles in a day, exploring new islands in the dark, portaging all their gear through 200' of waist-deep mud...)

Oh the TEARS! Tears of fear, tears of relief, tears of triumph, tears of joy...

Oh the SCREAMS! Lol. These girls screamed a lot. Especially around spiders. We had girls - who couldn't swim, mind you - jumping out of their boats into the river to avoid spiders. And when their canoes approached overhanging trees? Trees that they just knew were full of spiders and snakes and all things deadly? Their tactic of choice was to throw down their paddles and scream at the canoe to go a different direction. Very interesting. Very noisy. Wears on the nerves, after a while.

Oh the Warm Fuzzies... I actually had to leave this course right after getting the girls off the river. They had changed the course dates on me, and I already had air travel booked to head west for my summer adventures. So I missed the service day at a local soup kitchen, the high ropes course, and the personal challenge event (a 7.6 mile run). Some of the girls were pretty upset with me when they found out I was leaving. But they surprised me on that last morning with some amazing home-made cards. Made my day. My season, even. Maybe they will brighten yours:

*******

To: Mr. Jim

I'm VERY SAD you are going away but I know I can't do anything about it but keep my memories of what we did, and how strong you made me become and I thank you for that.

From: ----

ps Thanks
Going to keep you in my mind & prayers

*******

Mr. Jim,

Thank you Mr. Jim for always being you,
For being there when I needed you,
For giving and giving without a reprieve,
For giving me someone to trust and believe.
You gave me your shoulder, your ear, and your heart,
And by this you kept me from giving up.
You shared with me some of your wisdom and myrth,
And made me feel like some one of worth
Because you were there I will always be grateful,
Ad because you're my friend, I will always be thankful.

Luv ya,
----

ps
I will miss you dearly

*******

2A special person

*As life travel*
We make and meet new friends.
and even though the friends may go,
the friends never ends.
That's how it is with you,
you gave me a fresh start.
You gave me vision,
you gave me hope,
you touched and healed my heart.
You gave me strength to do the things
you knew that I could do.
You inspired me in so many ways
I can't begin to repay you.
You're always there when I needed you most.
Somehow you seem to know.
And that is why I hope and pray
Our friendship continues to grow.

Love,
----

ps
I will miss U!!!! Take care.

*******

Mr. Jim

I will miss you, I will always think about you.

*******

Hey Mr. Jim

I'm very very mad you leaving us tomorrow morning.
Everybody feels sad.
Well any way we still gonna call you and ask you how you doing and stuff.
I hope we get to see you again and always remember how you get us going
and always remember your Warrior Princesses.

I will miss you Mr. Jim
----
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Sunday May 4, 2008, 11:16 am
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Darkling Thrush
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