Sad :(

I just found out that my Young Women's leader from when I was in high school just died. She was only 77. I guess that sounds old as a number, but no matter how many years she'd been alive, she was one of those people who is always young inside. She worked with teens for most of her life, and fit in very well. After some rather difficult years in Texas in junior high, we moved back to Arkansas when I was in ninth grade. I had the good fortune to have many excellent people in my life, both peers my age in school, and also teachers and youth leaders who helped pour confidence back in me and helped me become the kind of person I am now. When I've found myself in the same position as a youth leader, I've often thought back to her example and tried to be that kind of person. She was smart, she was someone you just felt happy around, she really loved the girls she worked with, she had a sense of humor, and would do anything for her girls. Drive us to activities three hours away. Make stuff for and with us. Plan seriously elaborate fun events that she and the other leaders would keep secret until the day of, when the surprise would unfold. Whenever I went back home and saw her, she was still doing the same things for other kids. She took teens and their ideas and feelings seriously. I'm going to miss her. :(