by Jenny
(Milton Keynes)
At the age of 21 I moved to a new town, with a new job, to start a new life. I was 40 minutes from “home”. This is all decisions that I made, I wanted to do them.
At the tender age of 21.5 years old, I got the keys to my own front door. I had a lovely maisonette and I really felt like I had 'arrived'. There comes a time when the novelty does wear off. This happened about 18 months later, after I had moved to my two bedroom house.
As the spring loomed of that year, I, for the first time felt lonely. All my local friends were work colleagues or family. I wanted to go out and spend time with people that were like minded, but not working with me, or related to me.
At the local centre I saw a pack of Brownies off on an adventure. This struck an idea in my head. It was a long time ago that I was a Brownie, but I had spare time on my hands, I could put it to some good use. I went to our local centre, and found the contact number for the local unit. I rang Karen.
With my history, she was eager to meet me. When we discussed how I could help the Guiding movement, Karen, introduced me to Rainbows. This was a whole new concept to me. They were 'little Brownies'... girls aged 5 to 7.
There was one unit that was struggling to find another leader, as it met on a Friday night. I told Karen I was interested. I met with Jill (the Unit Leader) and agreed to start supporting the unit.
I loved these Friday nights. Having had a stressful day at work, going to spend an hour with the girls was great. It put life into perspective. The colours of the rainbow resembled parts of their Guiding and Home lives. Whether it was fun with bubbles or out on a nature walk, the girls were great fun to be with.
As I started my own family, I had to relinquish my Guiding role, for the time being. However, I look back with fond memories of my Rainbow days, especially when I see a Rainbow glimmering in the sky.
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