Charades, Thinking of Others, and Firework Nights.

     Since a friend is to be wed, a farewell youth deal was held. We ate hamburgers and sat around the fire. HJ and I were in charge of getting something around that the bride-to-be would find entertaining. We had decided upon fairy tale charades. We created a list of fairy tales and grouped people together that we thought would be of interest. The charades were as follows: 

    1. Little Red Riding Hood (all boys)

    2. The Pied Piper (mixed & kids)

    3. The Three Little Pigs (all girls)

    4. Goldilocks and the Three Bears (all girls)

    5. The Three Billy Goats Gruff (all girls)

    6. Hansel and Gretel (mixed)

    7. The Gingerbread Man (mixed)

    8. The Princess and the Pea (all boys)

    All in all it was highly entertaining for everyone. The youth did so well and we all had some good laughs. The children helped with The Pied Piper and it was quite cute to see them follow the tall youth boy, whistling on a stick, into the woods. Little Red Riding Hood turned graphic with a lighted torch and AK-47 rounds. The Three Little Pigs even gathered dry grasses and wood to build their camp chair houses and no matter how hard the wolf blew, she couldn’t knock down the “house”. Hansel and Gretel did a very good job of pushing the witch into the “stew pot” or hanging swing in this case. The last Billy Goat Gruff stood on her back legs and cast the ogre off of the metal chairs covered in blankets. Goldilocks had all the right facial expressions and did indeed flee in terror from the bears. The Gingerbread Man was held over the crackling campfire before kicking his feet and heading for the hills. By the time the fox finally ate him, he had a small entourage picking up the chase. Although only one boy in The Princess and the Pea had ever heard the story, they did a very fine job of depicting it. A wig even made an appearance on the “princess” who “didn’t sleep well” on the fire blankets that covered a small rock. The remainder of the evening was spent singing and conversing by the fire!

    As I have been so focused on work and on prepping for school and leaving, I haven’t taken the time to work on my youth relations. It was a Thursday night and that meant one thing, organized youth. I was dreading the fact. It feels different hanging out with people that are soon going to no longer be your people and feeling like you no longer fit in. My brother came up with a pretty valid excuse for us to stay home, but I determined that it was my Christian duty and I could prove myself to be a pleasant person. As I walked upstairs to leave, my mother called after me, “Think of others and not of yourself.” Well, I have heard that before and it hasn’t always worked out but here goes. As we sang to the group of people before us, I looked into their empty eyes and thought about the words to the songs. How sad to see these people hurting and how thankful I am to have grown up where I have. With “think of others and not of yourself” in my head, I walked over to the ladies, shook their hands, and had a few words. As the song goes “You’ll never know who needs encouragement today and sees the joy you bear lighting up their way”. Maybe I could be a small beacon of hope to a struggling soul. Later in the evening, I cheered loud and hard for my friends as we played corn hole. I sat down with a dear friend during supper and we discussed life, the good and the bad. I played Badminton with a group I don’t normally hang out with and soon I was having such a good time that I completely forgot that I was “thinking of others”. I simply fell into the rhythm of it. Don’t worry! This is not a fairy tale. The rest of the evening wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but as we sat at the end of the lane watching fireworks, I realized how much more freeing life is without thinking of self. However, it is and will still be a continuing project with much effort on the part of the writer. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and share it with others!

    We celebrate our independence from Britain with fireworks and other loud noises. I doubt most people even know why we have a Fourth of July. Teehee! For the author of this blog, this day pretty much just means a day off. So while the sun shone, I paddle boarded on the pond and jumped in the pool when I got overheated. I got parts of a dress sewed and painted on my job chart for school. Very chill! Very demure! Four thirty rolled around and my brother and I loaded up and headed to my favorite home city, Cleveland. We did some shopping in the illustrious Crocker Park. Me for school and him for an upcoming social event and just in general. We ate some Shake Shack which was phenomenal in all its greasy goodness. We accidentally drove past a stadium full of screaming baseball fans. Their energy was contagious. It looks like quite a fun sport to watch and maybe that’s because it’s a sport we play sometimes, albeit the very slow version! We parked on the top level of a parking garage and then walked to meet up with some other youth. We walked around the square for a bit and then meandered to another parking lot and watched the sun set over the lake. Someone nearby lit a Chinese lantern. It was mesmerizing to watch it slowly float across the black night sky. We grabbed our snacks and settled in to see the beautiful fireworks display. The fireworks in themselves were pretty cool but the chats and laughs with the people I was with made the evening a fun one!

    The following evening was the famous Orrville Fireworks Show. I hopped in my car, drove a short distance, parked in a field, and sat on my fire blanket with my homemade fair style lemonade for company. Surprisingly the fireworks were more spectacular than the ones the evening before. The traffic afterward took a lot longer given it is such a small town with fewer side roads. A fun solo date night if nothing else. :)

    It seems as though the list of things to complete before I leave grows everyday despite me trying my level best to get things done. Actually I think sewing is going to be my biggest struggle to get done. And yet I want to hang out with my home peoples before I leave and make good memories before friends go off to the mission. When I was younger I thought about the day when I would leave home. Now it is almost here and I feel under qualified to go. Does anyone truly feel ready to embark on a new adventure? At the same time I’m ready to go and learn how to be independent, how to live with others and I am excited to teach kids and learn new people.

    “Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”  -Franz Kafka