In Your Neighborhood

The goal of the Girl Scouts is to encourage the growth of women of courage, confidence and character. It is a hard goal to envision when you're out in the cold with a wagon full of cookies and your Brownie Girl Scout. She knocks on doors and rings doorbells and at first painfully and shyly chokes out the sentence, "would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?" You never know what will greet you when people answer the door. Some people annoyed will give a terse "no thank-you," while others will say that they've already purchased some. Then there are those who joyfully greet your scout and will even purchase a box just because she knocked on the door. Between each house, whether she makes a sale or not, you try to find the teachable moments -- about how to interact with people, how to ask the next question, how to allow people to refuse graciously, and how to represent Girl Scouts positively. It is a lot for an 8 year old to absorb.

But during this year's cookie sale, we had one of those experiences that I doubt she and I will ever forget.

Two Sundays ago, Princess and I went out with our wagon full of cookies. We stopped by every house on our street but by the time we reached the end of it, we still had most of our cookies. We decided to walk the next street over. It is a tucked away street with more trees than houses and some gorgeous views of the beach below. We hoped that we'd be successful. It being Sunday, Princess found most people at home and had some great conversations about Girl Scouts and cookies. We learned that back in the day, you could get a box of Trefoils for 35 cents! Lots of folk liked chatting with Princess about her favorite flavor of cookie and about how she likes being a Girl Scout. I watched my quiet and sometimes shy girl become gregarious -- she actually started skipping down the street to the next house.

Then she rang the doorbell to one house -- its yard was immaculate and you could see the beach from the deck. It was very quiet and I almost suggested that we move on because I thought that the occupants weren't home. But then an older gentleman opened the door. He seemed very tired. Princess asked him if he'd like to buy some cookies and he answered that he really didn't want to. That his wife was quite ill and he needed to return to her side. I called Princess back and told him that I hoped his wife would feel better soon. He said, "She's in hospice care." I told him that I was sorry to hear that and we exchanged good-byes.

As we left the driveway, Princess asked, "What is hospice?" I explained that his wife was dying. That she likely was very near the end of her life and that it must be a very hard time for her husband. Princess grew very pensive but continued the sale and by the next couple of houses was skipping again. We had only 2 boxes of cookies left by the time we decided to call it a day. As we neared the man's house on our walk back home, Princess asked me if there was something that she could do to help that man through this difficult time. She thought about maybe making a card but writing "Sorry your wife is dying," seemed strange. She also suggested that we bring the Girl Scout troop to his house and maybe sing a song for his wife. I thought that might be too intrusive. Then I looked at our cart of cookies and said, "We could give him a box of cookies. It might make him feel better."

Princess loved that idea. She grabbed a box of Dulce de Leche cookies -- the new flavor this year -- and in crayon on the side, I wrote a heart and her name. She added "GS," for girl scouts. Princess put the box on his doorstep and we walked on.

You would think that this is where the story ends. But this past Sunday, we were selling cookies at the local Safeway. We were surprised when our neighbor came up to us and asked, "Are you the Girl Scouts who left a box of cookies on my doorstep?"

He told us that his wife was still at home, but that it may be her last day. He said that he had been looking for us all week. He was so grateful for that little box of cookies when he found it the next morning. He told Princess that it really cheered him up. And because they were so delicious, he was going to buy a couple of boxes and that we should keep the change.

It was a small kind gesture, leaving that box of cookies on his doorstep. Princess displayed her great capacity for empathy.

Courage, confidence, & character. Check, check, & check.