Alumnae Story
Best of Friends

By Ellen Van Etten Swadley

The memory I have that is the most vivid is when I was at summer day camp with Girl Scouts in Deer Park, New York. I was around 10 and I have a running problem so I was not able to participate in a game. But there was an activity for those that could not, and so I did that one.

Well, I met a Girl Scout who was deaf and she also had no one to hang out with. We became the best of friends that summer. I learned sign language and I helped her communicate in the camp. We played games and did arts and crafts and all kinds of things together. We even made kick-the-can ice cream.

I lost track of her after that camp out. I wish we had kept in touch. I often think of her.

Because of her teaching me to sign, I have been able to help people communicate on my job as a nurse — not great but I can get the message across. Any time I use it, I think of that summer and her. We both were lost soles. I do not know if I impacted her life, but she did mine. This is my memory.

Because of this I realized the importance scouting can have in one's life and have instilled this upon my children and my Girl Scouts. My daughter has found her destination in life on her destination. Scouting does help one GROW STRONG.

Ellen Van Etten Swadley has been a Girl Scout since her Brownie Scout days. Her daughter was a Gold Award recipient.