While chatting with my Girl Scout colleagues, I find so many of their girlhood memories of Girl Scouts end with similar remarks—“… and my mom was the cookie mom that year …” or “my mom took us all stargazing.”
My mom was not that mom. But my dad was man enough to be a Girl Scout!
My dad was the dad who piled girls into the family truckster and brought us to troop meetings and campfires. A marine who saw combat in Vietnam, my dad probably knew more about outdoor living than anyone else at camp.
Dad taught me and my troop how to read a map, use a compass, and determine which bugs would be safe to eat (crickets, cook them first, and ewww). These happy memories—and all of the important skills I learned at Girl Scouts—are why I’m proud to share my Alum story.
Girl Scouts ensures girls have amazing, life-changing experiences. Every girl deserves to have the same chance I did to make memories with her Girl Scout sisters and, yes, her mom or dad. Our troop also saw equality in action: seeing a strong male leader taking direction in a professional context from equally strong women, like my troop leaders.
My dad passed away over ten years ago, but the memories I made with him through Girl Scouts are some of my fondest. Even the cricket thing.
So, here’s to all the troop dads out there teaching when to use a figure 8 follow-through knot, stressing the importance of hiking in dry socks, and just plain driving their troop from event to event. Thanks for putting all those miles on the station wagon for your girls.