Yesterday morning when I put in my hearing aids, the right one was dead silent. Usually that means that the wax ring on the speaker has become blocked with ear wax, and sure enough that was the case. But after I replaced it, the silence remained, which meant that most likely I had a speaker problem. As a result, early in the afternoon I visited our nearby (less than a mile away) hearing-aid provider. From one to two each afternoon, you can drop by their office for consultations without having an appointment.
Bill and I have had our hearing aids long enough that when we purchased them rechargeable ones weren’t an option, so we’re stuck with using tiny batteries. Those used to come in easy-to-open packaging. Now they come in “child-proof” packets that can only be opened by using a box-cutter, a screw driver, and a possibly pair of pliers!
But batteries aren’t the only problem with our current older-model, matching sets of hearing aids. Eventually the speakers wear out. The last time I went in for a speaker replacement, I discovered that our hearing-aid provider no longer keeps our model of speaker in stock which meant I had to wait for two weeks for a replacement to arrive. They provided me with an interim speaker, but still having to make two trips was a pain. So I said to myself, “Judy, why don’t you just order an extra pair of speakers and have them on hand the next time?” And that’s what I did. Yesterday, when the audiologist told me I needed a new speaker, I simply reached into my magic purse which, like my mother’s, contains a little bit of everything, and pulled out my handy-dandy packet of new hearing aid speakers. Voila! No two week wait!
When I came home, I explained what had happened, telling Bill that he was lucky to be married to a former Girl Scout, because Girl Scouts are always prepared. But that bit of dialogue sent my mind spiraling down a memory hole that kept me awake for over an hour last night, because I really was a Girl Scout from Brownies in second grade all the way up to Senior Scouts during my last year of high school. During that entire time, our troop had the same set of leaders—Rose Bennett and Laverne Williams—whose respective daughters were a year older than I was.
You may remember that in the lobby of Joanna Brady’s sheriff’s department there’s a wall displaying portraits of all the sheriffs, including Joanna. The pictures of her predecessor are all professionally taken, stern-faced, formal portraits. Joanna’s features a fair-haired little girl pulling a wagonload of Girl Scout cookies. Turns out that’s exactly how I sold Girl Scout cookies, dragging them door-to-door in our family’s Radio Flyer Wagon. Decades later, when I was applying for a job selling life insurance, the man interviewing me asked if I’d ever sold anything. I told him, “I sold Girl Scout cookies and All-Occasion Greeting Cards. Do those count?” Evidently they did because he hired me, and I spent the next ten years selling life insurance.
One of the first craft projects in Brownies was making Sit Upons. That consisted of taking two squares of vinyl, stitching three sides together with yarn and then stuffing the resulting pocket with cotton before stitching up the final side. My pieces of vinyl were bright red. The yarn was white. The stitches on side one were fairly even. On sides two and three they became somewhat sloppier. On side four there were barely enough stitches to hold the cotton inside. Mine had to have been one of the ugliest Sit Upons ever made
Decades passed before that unfortunate piece of handiwork resurfaced, this time in a book called Paradise Lost where Joanna’s daughter, Jenny, takes her Sit Upon along on an overnight campout. While on tour for that book, I was doing a Sunday afternoon speaking event at a bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky, when a cell phone began to ring. Unfortunately the ringing phone happened to be the one stowed in my bra. There was nothing to do but it but to take it out. ,When I looked at it, I saw my parents’ phone number.
My mother was in her eighties by then, and I usually spoke to her every Sunday afternoon. “It’s my mother,” I told the audience. “I need to take this.”
“Where are you?” Evie immediately wanted to know.
“I’m in Louisville, Kentucky, doing a book signing,” I answered.
“Well,” she went on. “It’s a good thing I saved your Sit Upon all these years. Otherwise you wouldn’t have anything to write about!”
A few weeks later, back home in Seattle, I was asked to do a Girl Scout breakfast fund-raiser at the Sheraton Hotel. Knowing I’d be speaking to Girl Scout leaders as well as Girl Scouts themselves, I spent a good deal of time working on what I would say, because I wanted my talk to be inspirational.
Bill and I arrived at the hotel early and were ushered into the ballroom before most of the guests had arrived. Walking through the massive room, I noticed that there was a copy of Paradise Lost as the centerpiece on each table. When we arrived at ours, I chose a seat directly in front of the lectern, allowing me to watch as the room filled up with people. Most of the tables were occupied by Girl Scouts and their respective leaders, but the table directly in front of ours was full of suit-clad men—clearly guys representing major donors. While I was looking on, one of those reached across his table, picked up the centerpiece book, glanced at the flap copy, and then returned the book to the table, putting it back somewhat disdainfully—the same way someone might put down an object thought to be covered with cooties. Remember those?
That’s the point where I tossed out my prepared speech. When I stepped up to the microphone, I said. “I’d like to begin by sharing the first thing I learned in Brownies” And then with my hand to my chest, I sang:
I have something in my pocket
It belongs up on my face,
I keep it very close at hand
In a most important place
I’m sure you couldn’t guess it
If you guessed a long, long while,
So I’ll take it out and put it on
It’s a great big Brownie smile.
By the time I finished that one, the whole room was singing along with me—except for the guys at the big donor table, that is.
My dad hated tomatoes. As a consequence I thought I hated tomatoes, too. But as a senior scout while at a camp called Rancho Risco in New Mexico, Rose and Laverne took us on an eight-mile hike. At the four-mile mark we were all hot and thirsty and tired. That’s when Rose reached into her back pack and passed out what she’d brought along—a perfectly ripe and juicy tomato for each of us. Mine was delicious, and I’ve loved tomatoes ever since. At the breakfast, after telling that story, I sang the following song:
Girl Scouts together, that is our song
Winding the old trail, rocky and long.
Learning our motto, living our creed.
Girls Scouts together in every good deed.
As before everybody joined in—except for the guys at the donor table who, by then, were looking a bit disgruntled.
I don’t remember which other stories I told, but at one point, I divided the ballroom into three sections and we sang the familiar round about friends:
Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold.
Then at the very end of my talk and just before I returned to my seat, I held up my right hand with three fingers showing and we all recited the Girl Scout Pledge.
On my honor I will try to do my duty to God and country; to help other people at all times, and to obey the Girl Scout Law.
I don’t remember whether or not the men at that next table stood for the standing ovation that followed, but I can tell you that all the girls and their leaders did, and that was the whole point.
PS At some point after I started writing books and at a book signing event in Bisbee, Laverne Williams, my former Scout leader turned up as did my mother. Laverne was Bisbee’s mayor at the time and my mother was … well … Evie. Having both those strong-willed women in the same signing line at the same time was something to behold!
Wow! Another great blog. I was remembering those parts of the books where your real life was included in your books. How often you’ve done that – I love it. I think that’s part of what brings your books alive. Thank you so much. I look forward to your upcoming books.
Thank you for the Friday updates!
If I may, a suggestion regarding hearing aids… Costco is the best value with rechargeable hearing aids that even have an app on your phone to adjust them I think they are $1600 now, well worth it!
I loved the part about the Girl scouts. I was also a scout from second grade through High School. I went to camp every summer. While in High School I went to a Mariner Scout camp on Catalina Island. I was an assistant counselor at camp then a unit counselor. I also was the camp nurse a few years ago. I was a troop leader for my daughter for many years. The songs brought a tear to my eyes.
My Boy Scout leader used to beat his wife. “She ran into a door,” was the saying.
My brothers’ Boy Scout leader (All my brothers were Eagles) was Rose Bennett’s husband, so Scouting ran in their family.
Growing up in the British Commonwealth, I was a Girl Guide; however, names notwithstanding, we are all sisters.
I hadn’t sung – or thought of – these songs for many years so I had some wonderful moments of memory as I sang them to myself and pictured friends I haven’t seen for over 50 years. Thank you for that gift!
Lovec your blog as always
. The memory of the Sit Upon, oh my..i had completely forgotten but you brought it right back up. Ours were made of folded newspapersand then woven together. Thank you for all the joy your stor telling bri gs.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful blog with all of us. I look forward to receiving it and it gives me the motivation to face each day. Thank you.
I wonder if the greeting cards you sold were from the company Heddencamp out of NYC. We are about the same age and I sold them, as well as potholder, aprons I made. Plus the girl scout cookies. I love your blog. Stay well and can`t wait for your next book
Oh my goodness…did you bring back memories for me! Hadn’t thought about my red sit upon in ages as well as the songs and pledge…which I still remember!!! I even still have my girl scout sash at 71 years old!!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
I feel your pain with the new hearing aid battery packs. I’ve worn hearing aids since I was a child and have two children. Never have they eaten a battery. I used to watch my grandchildren and they never tried either. The packs are supposed to be child proof but the only one who can get them opened is my 10 year old grandson. Go figure!
Every year when the Girl Scout cookies go on sale, I remember how I used to sell them for 50 cents a box. Ah the old days. I loved being in Scouts.
I agree. I had to use my Leatherman to open the packs. Now I have rechargeable devices. They work so well, I have to remember to put them in the charger before going to bed.
Thanks for the memory! Haven’t thought about scouting in years but this was the perfect day for the reminder…my 88th birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Loved the story. Hope you taught those uptight suits a thing or two.
Have a nice weekend
Great piece! I joined the Boy Scouts of America, now Scouting America, in November 1955 as a founding member of Troop 153, Lake of the Ozarks Council. Except for 5 or 6 years during my AF career, I have been registered as an adult leader. The program changed for the better with recent proposed changes that have the program starting in pre-K. The best change was allowing girls to be members and earn the Eagle Scout Rank, They had been members of the Exploring, Venturing and Sea Scout programs for many years. There should be a special patch for girls who earn the op ranks in every program. Despite the past problems, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s attempt to meddle with military support for the program, I firmly believe that there is no better program that helps and guides young people to become responsible adults.
OOOOOOOOOH! Your troop made fancy sit-upons. For ours, we had to collect newspaper for the filling – easy peasy in the day when nearly every family got 2 daily papers.
We folded the newspaper sections and then wove them into a lattice structure for the filling; vinyl covering kept the filling dry.
Thank you for a wonderful memory.
Delightful story, but even more delightful is finding at least one message un my inbox that isn’t a politition or political group pretending to care about something or pretending to want my opinion but really only wanting my money. Having a message from someone with something to share is a real treat.
Your story about your talk at the Girl Scout breakfast fund-raiser brought tears to my eyes! Thank you for sharing your love of storytelling. I look forward to your blog entries. There is always some bit that makes me laugh, or feel empathetic, or totally agree on your particular penchant for details.
Thank you so much for writing with so much life and love in your heart.
I love your stories! This one was great – I was a Brownie on an air force base in England but never got to fly up.
Have read all your books. Miss seeing you at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon Beach. Grew up in Seattle. Have visited the Tucson area many times as one of my best friends lives there. I love that some places in your books are familiar to me.
Stay well!
Loved this story.
I hate the new packaging for hearing aid batteries. They are not only child-proof, they are old people proof. Most of us wearing hearing aids are older and our hands don’t work as well as they used to. Getting into those packages is a pain. I open them all at once and put the batteries in the last, old package I kept. Then I don’t have to go through opening them each time. Guess that defeats their “child-proof” intervention.
From Sierra Vista, AZ
My Sit Upon from the 60s was stuffed with folded newspaper. Nowadays, I still newspaper in a plastic grocery sack and have an instant sit upon.
I remember the Situpons. And I was not even a Girl Scout. I was from another Girls Club. But I’m near your age. Just a few years older. And my Girls Club was in Milwaukee Wisconsin
Ms. Jance,
Yours is the only newsletter I follow. Every Friday, I know I’m in for a treat. Today was no exception. I hate the new hearing aid batteries and hope the VA will give me rechargeables at my next visit.
Your Brownie talk was a hoot.
Keep ’em coming.
Judy, love this story!
Jackie Olsen
Loved your Girl Scout memories. I was a leader from Brownies throughtSeniors. Took a Senior troop to Our Chalet in Switzerland and to England, France and Austria – a wonderful time – missteps included!
Continued on through president of our Council and attended many national conferences – a big one was in 1976 in Washington DC – a lot different times in politics then.
Also, so enjoyed the sing-a-longs!
Great story as usual. Joanna Brady is my favorite series. That’s how I started reading your books. They are so fun as we winter in Az and know most places you write about. I met you at a signing at the Apache Junction Library.
I so enjoy these stories. Thanks!
I may be your only fan that was not a Brownie. Instead, I was a Blue Bird, and never heard of a sit upon until your blogs, but they still bring back wonderful memories.
Blessing to you and Bill.
I was in Girl Scouts in Bisbee. My leader was Helen Gilbert who lived on the Vista in Warren. I joined as a Brownie, then became a Girl Scout and was even a Assistant
Girl Scout leader. In fact, I still have my uniform! Thanks for the memories.
I was never a Brownie/Girl Scout, but I love your stories and experiences1
Funny thing, my right ear hearing aid (rechargeable) has stopped working – need to visit my doctor and determine that’s wrong – my ear or the unit.
Take care!
I really enjoyed this, I like all your writings, but this one is fantastic. I too was a Girl Scout from Brownies through Senior and it brought back so many memories. I completely forgot about the sit upons, we used the blanket stitch and ours were stuffed with newspaper. I had forgotten about the smile song. Thank you so much for reminding me. I have been a fan of yours since the first J P book. I love all your books but Beau remains my favorite.
My first year selling Girl Scout cookies as a Brownie was in 1950. I pulled my little red wagon loaded also with boxes. They were 50 cents a box and looked similar to the Nabisco Nilla Wafers we put around banana pudding. I grew up in North Seattle about a mile or so south of what became the first large shopping center in the country “Northgate” in 1953.
we
No girl scouts in my family but, I get plenty of their cookies
I, too, sold GS cookies out of my red wagon. I “discovered” a trailer park with mostly retired residents. If the person at the door demurred buying with “I’m diabetic” I would shamelessly wheedle a sale with “buy them for your grandkids” or “have them on hand to serve visiting neighbors with coffee.” One of Mom’s friends who had been a paid adult at the national level always bought a case and froze them. My badge sash is still in a drawer. Thanks for all the great memories!
Hi to Bill, xx, Annie
I, too, sold GS cookies out of my red wagon. I “discovered” a trailer park with mostly retired residents. If the person at the door demurred buying with “I’m diabetic” I would shamelessly wheedle a sale with “buy them for your grandkids” or “have them on hand to serve visiting neighbors with coffee.” One of Mom’s friends who had been a paid adult at the national level always bought a case and froze them. My badge sash is still in a drawer. Thanks for all the great memories!
Hi to Bill, xx, Annie
I too was a Brownie and Girl Scout. We lived in a fairly new suburb and finding leaders was a challenge. One year in desperation my mother took over as leader. When it came time to sell the old trifoil cookies my mother ask everyone how many cases they wanted and ordered that number. After a few weeks of sales everyone turned in their money and unsold cookies. There were a lot more unsold cookies than money and my mother panicked. She found out areas with no troops and everyday for a couple of weeks she picked me up after school and I went door to door with my trusty sled and sold cookies until they were all sold. When my mother went to turn in the money to the council, they asked for the unsold cookies. My mother said we sold them all because she wasn’t aware they could turn in the unsold product. Turns out I won a stay at Camp Tomahawk for selling the most cookies in the state. Since I was scheduled to go to camp anyway, my mother gave that free space to a girl in the troop who couldn’t go otherwise. For complicated family reasons my mother kept all of this from me until I was out of college. So alas I was never able to use that fact in a job interview. I must say Im very proud of my cookie sales. And I’m glad the girl got to go to camp, too.
We used to make our sit upons out of newspaper.
Thanks for a lovely story.
I was a little concerned when I got this second pair of hearing aids in 2024 because at the time I got the first pair in 2019, Costco said the rechargeable kind might eventually need service, which would require sending them away.
That hasn’t happened so far. I do enjoy charging the present pair in a charging cradle (which can work for several days without being plugged in.) I’m glad I don’t have to fuss with the tiny batteries any more, including saving them to take in to the local collection point for safe battery disposal.
I’m also grateful to have the technology, supporting things like being in a choir and interacting with people because I can hear them.
interesting that you are covering hearing aids this week. I got an offer to get a free screening at a new shop opening in my neighborhood and think I will do that – I have noticed a slight change as I have passed the 70 mark so want to see what they say. Also, I wanted to join the girl scouts but it was near the end of the school year and they said I would have to wait and I didn’t inquire again – but I did learn some things from their book and have supported their cookie sales over the years. Your blog continues to help me in my efforts to take care of my health! Got to log some more steps!
I was never a Brownie or Girl Scout, but WAS an assistant leader. Those cookies made it so much fun. :)))
Best to you and Bill, JA.
Wow, those stick-in-the-mud guys in the audience deserve a kick in the pants, donors or not. I guess they strongly believed Boy Scouts were more worthy. Booooo.
Best to you !
Hope I get to read your latest books soon!
No kidding, I mean, I am constantly telling people that you are the best, and really know how to tell a story!
What a great read. I just love how you handled those grumpu men who I’m sure would have had a different attitude if it were a Boy Scout fundraiser and you were a man.
Sounds like a great presentation but makes me wonder about those men in suits. Hum?