Guest blogger Cindy Brookshire

Cindy Brookshire is my fourth guest blogger from Write by the Rails – the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club‘s Endless Blog Tour 2014. In the coming weeks, you will find here posts from 11 additional guests. Enjoy!

I see that Shay is a Scouter and adventuress. I came to Scouting late – as a senior at West Springfield High School in 1971. I was very shy, and I credit Girl Scouting with bringing me somewhat out of my shell. I was able to act as a guide at the Embassy of Tunisia during an Embassy Tea, I camped with younger Girl Scout troops and helped them evacuate in the middle of the night when the weather turned dangerous. These were the days of heavy canvas tents – drying them out was a chore. I also spent the weekend at St. Michael’s in Maryland, acting as a guide on a Coast Guard ship. I found out what a “head” was, and why tables in the galley have raised edges on them!

I met my first husband, Martin, thanks to Scouting. He was an assistant Scoutmaster to a Boy Scout troop with my brother-in-law in Fairfax, Virginia. Martin was an Eagle Scout, and so was his dad, so through the 16 years of our marriage, and the raising of our two children we heard his many stories of weathering the typhoon during the International Jamboree in Japan and watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon from TVs set up at the National Jamboree out in Idaho. Up with People performed there, and one of the singers was named “Glennie Close.” Yes, that Glenn Close, the future actress. Martin became a Cub Scout leader for our son, and together we were Girl Scout leaders (they call male leaders “Men in Green”) for our daughter. He died in 1998 when our children were 12 and 7 years old.

Ironically, the Boy Scouts, and men at my church, did some good deeds for me after he died. That’s when I met my second (and present) husband, Curtis, an Army veteran who works for the freight railroad. We married 18 months later, and Curtis became active in my son’s Scout troop and went camping with the troop to Goshen. We’ve been married 13 years now, and the kids are both grown.

I love Scouting. I’ve been to the National Scouting Museum when it was located in Kentucky (now Texas), and saw an exhibit of Norman Rockwell original paintings with Scouting as the subjects. I’ve been to Juliette Gordon Low’s childhood home in Savannah and visited a Girl Guides shop in London (not the World Centre at Pax Lodge, unfortunately). I’ve always said, if I was ever shipwrecked on an island, the only two books I’d need would be the Bible and the Boy Scout Handbook.

Thanks for letting me visit, Shay. Happy trails!

Cindy is a freelance writer and new to blogging. The blog tour has been a whirlwind of adventure, rather like traveling through Harry Potter’s floo network, for her. Check out her blog at http://cookies4nataka.wordpress.com/, drop by and leave her a comment!