A Beautiful Soul
Chapter 1
“I don’t want to move to Indiana,” shouted Shelly. “It’s not fair! This is the worst birthday I have ever had “she said, as tears rolled down her face.
Michelle Patricia Collins, known to family and friends as Shelly had just turned 11 that day and her parents informed her that they were moving to Harrison, Indiana. Shelly’s mother was a manager at a Wal-Mart store in Santa Barbara, California. She had been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources for the entire Midwest Region for Wal-Mart. The job meant more money and stock options, but more important, it was a big step up on the corporate ladder.
Abby Collins had been with Wal-Mart for 20 years and her work ethics and dedication to the company had been recognized. Shelly’s father, John Collins raised horses, gave riding lessons and leased horses for trail rides. He also taught piano lessons out of a small studio in their home. When he heard Abby’s news, he was happy for her and he knew that he could move the horses to Indiana and continue teaching riding lessons as well as piano lessons in Harrison.
John and Abby Collins had located a house with enough land for the horses on the outskirts of Harrison. It was June 5th, and school just ended that week. Shelly had completed the fifth grade. For Shelly, this news of the move was terrible. This was the only home she had ever known. All of her friends were here. “How could she leave her entire life behind and start over somewhere else?” thought Shelly. Shelly locked herself in her room and cried for more than two hours, before she came out. “It isn’t fair!” Shelly told her parents. “Don’t I have a say in this?” Her parents told her that this opportunity was too good to pass up.
“Once we get settled into our new home, you will make some new friends,” said her mother. “I have to start my new job in two weeks, so we will be moving next weekend. We will need your help to get everything packed,” said her mother.
“Next weekend?” shouted Shelly loudly. “What will I tell Elanna and April? When will I be able to say goodbye?” By now, Shelly was so upset, that she started crying again. Shelly had known Elanna and April since they met in preschool eight years earlier, and had been best friends ever since.
“Well, our flight to Indiana won’t leave until Sunday afternoon,” replied her mother, “so find out if Elanna and April can spend the night here on Saturday and you can have a going away slumber party. Remember, that the furniture and all of our belongings will be packed, so make sure they bring sleeping bags and pillows. We can go out for pizza and later get some ice cream.” As Shelly talked to Elanna and April on the phone, and told them the news, it was hard for her to keep from crying.
All that week, as Shelly helped to pack boxes, she tried not to think about Elanna and April. Saturday afternoon came all too quickly. When Elanna and April arrived, their mothers gave Shelly big hugs and told her that they would miss her. Each of them had been like a mother to Shelly. All of that afternoon and into the evening, the three girls reminisced about all of the good times they had shared over the years. They were laughing and having a great time. None of them wanted to talk about the move. They were putting off saying goodbye as long as possible.
When they went out for pizza, the girls finished off two pizzas by themselves, and drank a couple pitchers of root beer. At one point, the girls were laughing so hard, that root beer came out of Shelly’s nose, which caused them to laugh even harder.
As Shelly’s mother watched them, she was glad that they would have this evening as the memory of their last time together. After going out for ice cream, they returned to the house.
It was 9:30 p.m. when Shelly’s parents went to bed and told the girls: “You can stay up as late as you want. Shelly can sleep on the plane tomorrow.” The girls talked and laughed until the early morning hours, before they finally dozed off.
When they awoke, they had juice and doughnuts. When April and Elanna’s mothers arrived to pick them up, it was very hard for the girls to say goodbye. They hugged and cried, and promised to write and call as often as they could. Elanna pulled out a wrapped gift from her overnight bag and gave it to Shelly.
Shelly unwrapped it and found a photo album full of photos of the three of them over the past eight years. Shelly always kidded Elanna about taking photos all of the time, but now, Shelly was glad that Elanna had taken so many pictures.
Elanna had copied all of the photos and made the album for Shelly as a going away present. “I made this, so you won’t forget about us,” said Elanna.
They hugged one last time and then Elanna and April, were gone. Shelly started crying as she watched the cars pull away. Her mom pulled her close and told her. “I know it’s hard to say goodbye, but before you know it you will be making new friends in Harrison.”
On the flight to Indianapolis, Shelly wondered if she would fit in at her new school. Shelly was small for her age, standing 4 feet 7 inches tall. She had short brown hair, and freckles and she wore plastic framed glasses.
Shelly was a tomboy and liked to help her father with the horses. She loved to ride horses and had been riding since age four. She had accumulated a large collection of ribbons and trophies that she had won in riding competitions. She had her own horse named Buttercup. She also had a chocolate Labrador named Charlie, who was one year old.
Shelly loved animals and she had a special relationship with them. “It was a gift,” her father had once told her. Shelly could play the piano quite well, as her father had been giving her lessons for more than eight years.
Every night, she slept with a teddy bear named Rainbow Bear. She had received the bear when she was two years old and she could not bear to part with it.
Shelly loved to listen to music, especially Christian, Jazz, Country and Classical and some soft rock. She loved to watch old movies, especially the tearjerkers. She loved to read books, swim, and work in the garden.
Shelly did not have any other family other than her parents. Her dad’s parents were killed in a car crash when her dad was 17, and he had been an only child. Shelly’s mom had not seen her family in more than 20 years, and whenever Shelly asked her mom about her parents or siblings, her mom got very upset and wouldn’t talk about it. She said that she would explain everything to Shelly when she was older.
Shelly was lost in thought, when her mother shook her and said; “We’ll be landing in a few minutes, and then we can drive to Harrison and see our new house.”
The furniture and their belongings would be waiting there for them. Shelly’s father would arrive with their horses a couple of days later.
“There was no turning back,” thought Shelly, and she decided to make the best of it.
Chapter 2
As they pulled up to their new house on the outskirts of Harrison, Shelly thought it looked like a mansion, compared to their old house. Her mother explained that you could buy more land and a bigger house for your money in Indiana than you could in California.
The house had five bedrooms, and two bathrooms upstairs. Downstairs, there were a large kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, laundry room, sun porch and a large room that her father would use as a music studio when he gave piano lessons.
Mrs. Collins would use one of the upstairs bedrooms for her office. There was also a full basement that contained a large rec. room and a storage area.
The house sat on 10 acres of land and besides the house, there were two large barns that been converted into stables that could hold 30 horses. There was an enclosed pasture, as well as room for a large vegetable garden. There were also several apple, peach and pear trees.
After helping to unpack for a couple of days, Shelly decided to ride Buttercup and go exploring around the property. When she got to the fence at their end of their property, she saw a boy working in a garden on the property next to theirs.
The boy looked up, and when he saw Shelly, he headed toward the fence. “Are you the family that bought that house?” The boy asked.
“Yes,” replied Shelly. “I’m Michelle Collins, but everyone calls me Shelly. We just moved here from California.”
“My name’s Jesse Thompson, but I go by Jess,” said the boy. “How old are you?” he asked Shelly.
“I just turned eleven last week,” answered Shelly. “I will be going into the 6th grade. How old are you?”
“I turned eleven in April and will be going into the 6th grade also,” replied Jess.
Jess was approximately five feet tall and very lean. If he were standing in a cornfield, he would look like a scarecrow from far away. He had brown curly hair, which was usually mussed.
Jess climbed over the fence and helped Shelly off of her horse and she tied the horse to the fence. “You are a very good rider,” said Jess.
“Thank you. I have been riding for seven years,” said Shelly.
Shelly and Jess sat under an apple tree and talked for a couple of hours. Shelly told Jess about her old house, about California, her old school and she told him about her two best friends whom she had to say goodbye to. She told him about her parents and about her dog Charlie. Jess told her about the city of Harrison, Kennedy Elementary School, his golden Lab named Sampson, and about his family.
Jess’s family had lived on the same land for more than 160 years. The house had built more than 155 years ago by Jess’s great, great, great, great grandfather.
Originally, there were more than a hundred acres, but over the years, the family had sold most of the land. They still had 30 acres. They leased 20 acres of it to local farmers.
The Thompson family raised some alfalfa, corn and pumpkins. They also had a vegetable garden for their own use. They had two milk cows, some chickens and a few pigs.
Jess’s parents were older that Shelly’s. For many years, they had tried to have children, and were told it would not be possible. Then, when they were in their early 40's, they were blessed with a son.
Now, Jess’s parents were in their early 50's, while Shelly’s parents were in their mid 30’s. Roger Thompson was a computer programmer. In addition, he worked on their small farm, tending the animals and crops. Nancy Thompson was a distributor for Mary Kay cosmetics.
Jess and Shelly spent a lot of time together over the rest of the summer. They rode horses and went swimming at a nearby pond. It was too late in the year for Shelly’s family to put in a garden, so Shelly helped Jess with his family’s garden. Jess taught her how to milk a cow and let her feed the pigs and collect eggs.
As the summer ended, Shelly grew nervous about starting a new school. When she mentioned it to Jess, he told her not to worry about it.
“I’ll introduce you to the other kids at school, and besides, you already have me for a friend,” said Jess.
As Jess stood there smiling at her, most of Shelly’s fears melted away. Shelly asked her parents if she could get contact lenses, so that the kids at school would not call her four eyes. Her mom told her “no contact lenses until high school”.
When school started, Shelly felt like an outsider. Most of the other kids at Kennedy Elementary, had known each other for 5-6 years or more. The other girls in her class already had their own circle of friends. Most of them had nicer clothes that she did.
When Shelly asked her mom for designer jeans, Her mom told her she couldn’t see spending $100 for a pair of pants, when a $20-25 pair would do just as well.
The one good thing about school was that Jess was in her class. They had become good friends over the summer. They saw something special in each other. There was definitely an attraction between them, but not a physical one. It was more of an attraction of minds and souls. It was a very special friendship.
As the school year progressed, Shelly began to make a few more friends. She constantly asked her parents for things that other kids had, such as cell phones, IPods, computers, etc. Her parents wanted to keep her from obsessing about material possessions, and they turned down most of her requests. Shelly knew that her parents loved her, but she thought they were old fashioned.
Jess and Shelly ate lunch together every day and they spent a lot of time studying together. Shelly had never thought that she could be good friends with a boy, but it was true. Jess was her best friend. She could talk to him about anything, even when she could not talk to her parents. Shelly knew that Jess was always honest and that he would not laugh at her, or intentionally hurt her feelings. When Jess and Shelly were riding horses together, nothing else mattered. They shared their dreams, their wishes, and while they were riding, their troubles vanished and they were free from worry and fear.
In the spring, Shelly helped her father put in a vegetable garden. She helped to take care of it as well. As school ended, the garden was in full bloom.
Jess and Shelly were glad when school was over for the summer. After their chores were done, they would spend all of their free time together. If one of them had more chores than the other, then they would help each other until all the chores were done. They sometimes went fishing and Jess would always offer to clean Shelly’s fish for her.
The summer flew by and soon it was time to start junior high. Shelly had lived in Harrison for over a year now, but she still exchanged letters with Elanna and April in California, though the letters were not as plentiful, since they were all getting busy with school and new friends. Shelly was determined not to forget her friends or her roots in Santa Barbara.
Chapter 3
On the Sunday before they started junior high, Jess and Shelly started Confirmation class. Both families were members of St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Shelly loved the church services, as she loved learning about God and the bible. Jess liked church but he occasionally grumbled because it sometimes cut into his sleep time. Shelly and Jess had been looking forward to Confirmation class. The two cool pastors of the church, Pastor Joe and Associate Pastor taught it. They went to an early Confirmation class and then attended the church service with their parents.
At the beginning of the first class, Pastor Joe told everyone to split up into groups of four. Since there were 28 students, there would be seven groups. Jess and Shelly went to be in the same group, but then Pastor Joe said that he wanted the groups made up of just boys, or girls, not mixed. He explained that from experience, he found they paid more attention to the lessons that way. Jess formed a group with Kevin, Pete and Jake. Shelly formed a group with Stephanie, Rachel and Mara.
Mara Patricia Louis had just moved to Harrison from New York a week earlier. She did not know anyone and was a little shy. Shelly knew how she felt and befriended her. As it turned out, they would be in most of the same classes together. Mara and Shelly would become lifelong friends, as close as sisters.
Confirmation classes would last for two years, and they would be confirmed in May of their 8th grade year. There would be a couple of weekend retreats, as well as other events throughout the year.
Shelly and Mara also joined a Girl Scout troop sponsored by their church. Stephanie and Rachel were already members of the troop.
The next day was Monday, the first day of 7th grade. Shelly did not feel as nervous as she did the previous year, because everyone was new to junior high. She stayed close to Mara, so that Mara would not feel so out of place.
At Paterson Junior High, students were able to choose some of their classes. Shelly picked Home Ec., taught by Mrs. Kay, and Child Care taught by Mrs. Gray. She liked to cook and wanted to learn to make her own clothes. She wanted to start babysitting, to earn extra money, and the Child Care class would help. She also signed up to work on the school newspaper after school.
Jess signed up for Wood Shop taught by Mr. Martich and Orchestra taught by Mr. Nobles. He wanted to learn to play the violin. His great great-grandfather had played the violin and Jess’s parents still had his violin. It was locked away because it was so valuable.
Jess joined the basketball team and in the spring, he joined the track team. He liked the basketball coach, Mr. Witt, because he let everybody play. Every morning, Jess got up extra early and would run a few miles before breakfast.
One morning, Shelly looked out her window and saw Jess running. She quickly put on a T-shirt, a pair of shorts and some sneakers and ran to catch up with Jess. When she caught him, she asked, “Do you mind if I run with you?” “It’s fine with me, if you can keep up,” said Jess. So, from that day forward, Jess and Shelly would run together every morning. Sometimes, they would let their dogs Charlie and Sampson run with them.
Their lives were busier in junior high and they did not get to spend as much time together as before. Now, they could be together as they ran. They were still very close friends.
On weekends, they would try to find a few hours to ride horses together. Jess felt comfortable around Shelly and could ask her anything, or say anything to her. When he tried to talk to other girls, he stumbled over his words and got all tongue-tied.
Shelly liked the fact that Jess was very honest and open with her, even when it was something she didn’t want to hear. Shelly knew that Jess’s opinion was sincere.
Neither of them thought of their relationship as boy-girl, but as very good friends. If one of them were sick, the other would pick up that day’s assignments so that they would not get behind. They studied together when they could. It was rare to see this close of a bond between two people at this age, or at any age for that matter.
In early December, Shelly was given some news, which she was not very happy about. She had to get braces on her teeth. She was devastated. She argued with her mom, but in the end, she knew she had no say in the matter.
Shelly had still not started puberty and while some of the other girls in her class were starting to develop more curves, she was, “how did the cruel kids put it? -straight and flat as a board.” Now, to top it off, she had to wear braces. “It had been bad enough to be called four-eyes, but now she would be a little four-eyed, metal-mouthed freak,” thought Shelly.
A week later, they went to see Dr. Taylor, the orthodontist. The following week, Shelly came home from the orthodontist’s office wearing her braces. She ran up to her room and slammed the door. “I’m never coming out of my room,” she yelled.
Later that afternoon, Jess went over to Shelly’s house to see her. Her mom told to go on upstairs. She told Jess “I don’t think she wants to see anyone, but you can give it a try.”
Jess knocked on Shelly’s door. Shelly told him to go away. She told him she got her braces and that she looked horrible. Jess refused to leave, and finally Shelly let him come in.
When Jess saw Shelly, he let out a friendly chuckle. This made Shelly furious. “I thought you were my friend, Jess. I didn’t expect you to make fun of me,” she said, on the verge of tears.
Jess looked at Shelly and said, “I wasn’t laughing at you! I was laughing, because from what you described, I expected to see wires and screws sticking out all over the place. Shelly, your braces are hardly noticeable. In fact, they make you look cute, especially when you smile”
Shelly had calmed down by now and Jess continued: “I would never make fun of you Shelly, and anyone who does tease you, is not worth having as a friend”
Shelly knew that Jess was telling the truth. He had cheered her up so much that before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around Jess, gave him a big hug, and said “thank you!”
The hug took Jess completely by surprise and there was a moment of awkward silence.
Jess was a little confused. When Shelly hugged him, he felt a warm tingling sensation all over. He had always thought of Shelly and himself as just good friends. He did not want to ruin that by making more of their friendship than was there. He quickly changed the subject and suggested that they go for a ride.
When Jess and Shelly were riding horses, they felt like they were flying through the sky. They loved the cool breeze blowing through their hair. It was as if time stood still and nothing else in the world mattered. It was just their horses and them.
When Shelly went to school the next day, she did not expect all of the teasing and cruel jokes that she heard about her braces. She was so embarrassed and humiliated, that she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and die.
At lunchtime, Jess looked all over for Shelly. He finally found her behind the school, crying her eyes out. Jess put his arm around her shoulders as Shelly told him about all the jokes and teasing.
When she was finished, Jess spoke: “It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks, or says about you. It only matters what you think and feel about yourself. The true beauty of a person is not on the outside, but on the inside. It is honesty, integrity, compassion, kindness, love, sincerity, caring, empathy and sympathy that make up a pure heart. It’s what’s in your heart and soul that matters.”
As Shelly wiped away her tears on her sleeve, Jess continued. He put Shelly’s fist over her heart and said, “Shelly, you have a pure heart, a heart of gold. You are the most thoughtful, caring person that I know. You have a beautiful soul. Never let anyone tell you differently”
By now, Jess was getting a little angry. “Who cares what those spoiled brats say or think? You are my best friend and I accept you totally, as you are, with glasses, braces, acne and all. I know who you are inside and that is what matters. I know that I am a much better person on the inside that a lot of people at school. They may be richer, have nicer things, and may be better looking than I am, but my heart and soul are more beautiful; as long as we know this about ourselves, who cares what others think?”
Jess took Shelly in his arms and just held her, for a long time. He could feel her hurt and pain. After a while, Shelly started to feel a lot better.
From that day forward, Shelly held her head up high and ignored the jokes and teasing. At lunchtime, when it started getting to her, she looked over at Jess, he held his fist over his heart, and she felt better instantly.
Christmas was just ten days away, and Jess wanted to give Shelly something to cheer her up. In wood shop, he had made a wooden shelf with ten pegs below, to hang something on. He had been thinking of giving it to his father as a tie rack, but then an idea came to him. He wrapped it up and put it under the Christmas tree.
School was finally out for two weeks. Both Jess and Shelly needed that break.
Jess invited Shelly over to spend Christmas Eve with his family. It was very cold outside, but there was still no snow, although snow had been predicted for Christmas. Shelly arrived carrying a large plate of cookies that she had made in Home Ec. Class for Jess. Jess tried one and said, “These are delicious. I never knew that you could cook so good.” He really did not want to share the cookies, but he gave one to each of his parents, and put the rest of them in his room.
Jess took a present from under the tree and gave it to Shelly. “Sorry for the way it looks,” he said, “I’m not too good at wrapping presents”
Shelly looked at the present and said, “Did you use a whole roll of tape on this?” She opened the present and found a wooden shelf with many pegs below.
“I thought you could use it to hang all your ribbons you won for riding competitions on it and you could use the shelf for displaying a photo of Buttercup,” said Jess. “It’s my first project, so it’s not as good as it could be.”
“It’s perfect, Jess” said Shelly, “Thank you!”
Jess’s mom brought hot chocolate for everyone and the four of them sat in front of the crackling fire and sang Christmas carols.
When it was time for Shelly to leave, Jess walked her to the door. “I’ll see you in a few hours at church,” said Jess. He gave Shelly a quick hug and closed the door.
As Shelly started to walk to her house, it started to snow. “What a perfect Christmas this is,” thought Shelly.
The rest of the school year passed quickly. Shelly went to as many of Jess’s basketball games as she could and was always cheering him on. When track season started, Shelly watched Jess run, and at the meets, she was at the finish line encouraging him to run faster. Jess loved the attention, and it worked. Jess would get an extra burst of energy on the last leg of the race, knowing that Shelly was waiting for him.
Both Jess and Shelly finished the school year with very good grades. Jess had two B’s and the rest were A’s. Shelly had all A’s. Summer had arrived and 7th grade was finally over. So much had happened this year that it seemed like it lasted two years.
Shelly still enjoyed the letters she received from Elanna and April. When Shelly wrote to them, she told them about her life in Indiana, about school, about Mara and of course, about Jess.
The friendship between Shelly, Elanna and April had survived over the long distance for two years, and Shelly knew that it would last longer with a little effort. She was making friends in Harrison and considered it home now, but she was not ready to let go of her past.
Chapter 4
Shelly turned thirteen, two days after school ended. She was officially a teenager. Jess had turned thirteen in April. Shelly was still waiting for new body parts to arrive, but she was feeling better about herself and she had gotten used to her braces.
A week later, Shelly and Mara went to Camp Gallahue; a Girl Scout camp in Indiana. Shelly was glad that Mara was with her, so she would have at least one person she knew at the camp. They also became friends with some new girls named Taylor, Kat, Elaine, Erin and Katherine.
They had a blast at camp. They swam, went canoeing, went on hikes, and even went camping. In the evenings, they told stories by the campfire and toasted marshmallows and made s’mores. It was just what Shelly needed, to completely relax and release some stress from her life. She also liked spending more time with Mara. By the time camp was over, she and Mara were even closer friends than before.
After Shelly returned from camp, she spent a lot of time helping her dad with the horses, and helping her mom around the house. She also got some babysitting jobs and was earning her own money.
Jess was also earning his own money. He had passed out fliers around town and was doing odd jobs, and lawn work. He was also helping his parents take care of the animals and the garden and the fields. His family grew alfalfa, corn and pumpkins. They used the alfalfa for their cows, and what corn they did not use personally, they sold. They grew hundreds of pumpkins each year, and in the fall, they donated them to schools and churches throughout the city.
Even with their chores and jobs, Jess and Shelly still had time to spend with each other, whether it was riding horses, swimming, or having their parents drive them to an occasional movie.
Jess and Shelly both liked action movies, as well as comedies. Shelly liked the romantic movies, but she could not get Jess to see one with her. He was not interested in them yet.
Toward the end of August, they went with their families to the county fair for a couple of days. This was the first year that Jess and Shelly did not mind looking at all of the exhibits. At the 4-H barn, Shelly got more information on the 4-H and signed up that day. She figured it was a good way to learn more about animals.
On the second day at the fair, Jess and Shelly were able to spend the entire day by themselves. They immediately headed for the rides on the Midway.
While they were riding the Ferris wheel, it stopped when they were at the very top. Shelly got so scared, that she was cutting off the circulation to Jess’s arm that she was hanging onto. To help calm her down, Jess put his arm around her and held her close. After a while, Shelly started to relax. She felt safe in Jess’s arms. It made Jess feel good knowing that she felt safe with him.
After a few more rides (closer to the ground), they headed toward the fairway where the games of skill were. Jess tried a game of free throws with a basketball and won a clown doll for Shelly. Later, they ate corndogs and cotton candy and drank pink lemonade. They met up with their folks, just in time to see the nightly fireworks.
Soon, it was time to start school again. It would be an important year for Jess and Shelly. Besides being the last year of junior high, it was also the year in which they would be confirmed.
Shelly babysat when she could and Jess did as much yard work jobs while the weather was still mild. When the snow came, he earned money shoveling driveways and sidewalks.
Shelly was active in 4-H. In Home Ec., she did more cooking, and did some sewing projects, including making a shirt for her dad. She worked on the school paper for the second year, and was elected secretary of the 8th grade class.
Jess took another year of wood shop and made his mother a spice rack and a birdhouse. He was one of the best basketball players on the team. He was not as tall as the others were, but he was fast and determined. Shelly cheered Jess on at games and took photos for the school paper. In the spring, Jess ran track again and Shelly joined the swimming team.
Shelly noticed that many girls in the class were paying a lot of attention to Jess, and Shelly became a little jealous. She was happy for Jess though.
“Jess was very cute,” thought Shelly. “The other girls could not help but notice.” She felt confident, because she and Jess were such good friends.
Jess had also noticed the other girls flirting with him. He liked the attention, but he was not ready to get serious about girls yet, and he was so busy, he did not have the time for a relationship.
Shelly’s Girl Scout troop was looking for a community project to earn their silver award. Shelly suggested that they combine their community project with the annual cookie sales campaign. They could get businesses and organizations, churches and ordinary citizens to donate money toward purchasing cookies to send to troops in the Middle East.
As an additional bonus, the money that the troop earned from buying all the boxes of cookies could be donated to the reading programs in the elementary schools.
The entire troop thought this was a terrific idea, including their troop leader Mrs. Ross. Shelly volunteered to write the letter that they would copy and send out to all organizations and businesses.
The project was a big success. In their wildest imaginations, the girls could not have dreamed of the success they had. In all, they received donations of more than $575,000. That was enough to send more than 190,000 boxes of cookies to troops in the Middle East. The military had volunteered to ship the cookies for them.
The troop recruited students from the high school, the junior highs, the elementary schools, as well as adults from civic organizations, to help create homemade cards to attach to each box of cookies, to cheer up the troops.
The troop received more than $95,000 for their troop from the sales of all those cookies. The troop used that money to help support the elementary school reading programs by purchasing books and supplies.
The project got so much press coverage, that the troop was invited to meet the mayor, and soon after, they were invited to the state capitol to meet the governor. The entire troop was thrilled.
Then, one day, after Shelly had arrived home from school, she answered the phone and just stood there holding the phone and not saying anything. Her mom thought that there was something wrong with Shelly. She looked like she was going to pass out. Then Shelly started nodding into the phone, “Yes, yes sir. Thank you, sir. We would be honored.” Shelly said good-bye and hung up the phone.
“Who was that?” asked her mother. Shelly was very excited and had to catch her breath before she started talking. She was jumping up and down.
“That was the President,” she said at last.
“The president of what?” her mother asked. Shelly paused again to catch her breath and said “The President of the United States.” At this point, she had to sit down and her mother got her a glass of water.
Shelly continued; “The President has invited our troop to the White House next week, to meet him in the Oval Office. He heard about what we did for our silver award. He wants to talk to the nation about people doing more community service and he wants to use us for an example of good community service. We’re going to be on television.”
The phone rang again and this time it was Mrs. Ross, the troop leader. She had all the details of the trip to Washington, D.C. The troop would go by bus early Monday morning and come back late Tuesday evening. They would stay overnight for one night at a hotel.
The government was paying for everything. The school had given approval for the troop to miss school for those two days. The troop leader told Shelly that since the idea for the silver award project was hers and since she wrote the letter that brought in all the donations, she would speak for the troop at the White House.
After Shelly hung up the phone, the first thing she did was to call Jess and Mara and told them the news. Mara was as excited as Shelly, to be going. Jess was very happy for Shelly. Then Shelly called Elanna and April so they could watch it on television on Tuesday.
At school the next day, everybody was talking about the trip to Washington. Shelly felt like a celebrity. As Monday got nearer, Shelly started to get a little nervous. Not only was she going to meet the president, but also she was going to have to speak on live television. Her mom told her not to be nervous. “Just speak from your heart, and you will do just fine.”
Chapter 5
Monday morning finally arrived. The bus was scheduled to depart from the school at 5AM. When Shelly and her parents arrived at the school, there was a large crowd of students and parents to see them off. And, of course, Jess was there.
Jess could see that Shelly was nervous. He pulled her off to the side and tried to reassure her. “You will do great, Shelly. Just speak from your heart and you can’t go wrong,” said Jess. Then, Jess gave Shelly a hug. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed with all the people around.
He told Shelly; “Ask the president to name a national holiday after the troop so that we can get a day off from school,”
They both laughed, and said goodbye, and then Shelly quickly kissed Jess on the cheek before he could turn away. As Jess’s face turned red, Shelly giggled and got on the bus.
On the bus ride to Washington, the girls sang songs, laughed and had a great time. They arrived in Washington, D.C., in the early afternoon. They checked into their hotel, and dropped their stuff off in their rooms. Then they went to see as many sites in the city as they could.
It had been a long day, and after dinner, they all went to their rooms to get some sleep. Shelly could not fall asleep. She kept tossing and turning. She was excited, nervous, and afraid that she would say something stupid in front of the entire country, or worse, that she would get sick or trip and fall. She finally drifted off to sleep around 1am.
At 7:00 the next morning, they got up, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then boarded the bus to go to the White House.
When they arrived at the White House, they were escorted to the Oval Office. The president was not there yet. Shelly was awestruck and overwhelmed. She was standing in front of the president’s desk, with the Presidential Seal in front of it.
As the girls were looking around, the door opened and there he was; ‘The President of the United States’. All of the girls had brought disposable cameras except for Shelly, who had brought a camera from the school newspaper. All of the girls started taking pictures of the president and asking him questions. All of them, except for Shelly, that is.
Shelly stood off in the corner of the room and was taking it all in. She wanted to remember that moment for the rest of her life; the sounds, the smells, how everything looked, and how she felt.
“I am in the Oval Office with the President of the United States. He is the most powerful person in the world and he is just ten feet away,” thought Shelly. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her.
As Shelly was lost in thought, a voice startled her. “You must be Shelly,” said the President. “I’ve heard so much about you. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Shelly felt like she was going to faint. The president helped her to sit down -IN HIS CHAIR! Shelly was sitting behind the president’s desk in the Oval Office with the president standing beside her. “How cool was that?” thought Shelly. Shelly was suddenly so overwhelmed, that she started to cry. She could not stop crying and that made her feel embarrassed. Shelly was at the age where she cried very easily.
The president had an aide take the rest of the girls into the outer office, so he could talk to Shelly alone.
“Are you okay, Shelly?” asked the president, as he handed her a glass of water. Shelly took a long drink of water before she answered.
“It’s just that I am so honored and humbled to meet you, Mr. President. Nothing this important has ever happened to me before in my entire life. You are the president of the entire country and I am just an ordinary 13-year-old girl,” said Shelly.
“You may be a 13-year-old girl,” the President replied, “but you are far from ordinary, Shelly. You came up with the idea that raised over half a million dollars. Not only did you help boost the morale of thousands of troops in the Middle East with the cookies that your troop sent, but you also donated more than $95,000 to help kids learn to read.”
“The reason I brought your troop to Washington, is that I want to inspire the nation to become involved, as you girls have done. You got your community involved in helping others. You are a very special young lady, Shelly. Our country needs more caring people like you.”
“When I present your Girl Scout troop to the press this afternoon, would you say a few words to them?” asked the President.
“What would I say?” asked Shelly.
“Just say what you feel, Shelly” said the president, “Just speak from your heart.”
“That’s exactly what my mom and Jess told me to do,” thought Shelly. By now, Shelly was calming down and was feeling more relaxed.
“Mr. President, I am a photographer for my school newspaper. Would you mind if I took some pictures of you with the girls in our troop?” Shelly asked.
“Not at all” said the president.
He let the rest of girls back into the office and Shelly started taking pictures. She took some of the entire troop standing around the president as he sat as his desk, and some of the girls shaking hands with him. Then, the President had his aide take some photos of him and Shelly.
The president said: “I want copies of these pictures, if you don’t mind.”Shelly promised she would send copies.
Then, the president took the girls on a personal tour of the White House. They met several Cabinet members, some senators and representatives. They even attended a fancy lunch with the President, First Lady and the Vice President.
After lunch, it was time to get ready for the press conference in the Rose Garden. Mara pulled Shelly aside, and said, “This is so cool. I will never forget this day as long as I live.”
Before they went out to the Rose Garden, Shelly asked the rest of the troop, if they were upset that Shelly would speak for the troop. They all agreed that Shelly deserved to speak for them, because if it had not been for her idea, they would not be there and they would never have met the president.
Chapter 6
As the Girl Scout troop was escorted into the Rose Garden, Shelly began to get nervous again. They were seated on chairs behind the podium. There must have been more than 200 people from the press, with several television cameras and microphones.
The president went to the podium and everyone became quiet. “I’ve said many times throughout my presidency, that our nation is full of compassionate caring people,” The president began. “This afternoon, I have with me, Girl Scout Troop 125 from Harrison, Indiana. These girls exemplify that compassion.”
“This year, the troop was looking for a community project to help them earn their silver award. The troop sent out letters out to community organizations, churches, businesses, and handed out fliers to citizens, asking for donations, which the troop would use to buy boxes of Girl Scout cookies that they would then send to military troops serving in the Middle East. From the cookie sales, their troop would receive $.50 per box. The troop would use this money to purchase books and supplies for reading programs in the elementary schools.”
“This project was so successful that they raised more than $575,000, which was used to purchase more than 190,000 boxes of cookies. The girl scouts got the entire community involved in making handmade cards to attach to each box of cookies telling the troops, that the citizens of Harrison were proud of them and grateful for their sacrifice.”
“From the cookie sales, they also raised more than $95,000, which was used to purchase books and supplies for the reading programs.”
“This troop shows what community service and volunteering can accomplish. I am very proud of these girls.”
The president started clapping and soon the entire press corps was giving the troop a standing ovation. All of the girls were smiling, and they were a little embarrassed.
After the applause died down, the president continued: “I would like to read you a portion of the letter, which was written by Shelly Collins, age 13. ‘ Even though we are only 13 and 14-year-old Girl Scouts, we are doing our part, to help others. Won’t you please help us brighten the lives of our military troops in the Middle East, by making a large donation? We will use the money to purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to the troops, to show our support and our gratitude. These men and women are far away from their families. Maybe we can send them a little taste of home, with these cookies. Please help us to help others. If each of us does a little, then together we can accomplish a lot.’”
After more applause, the president said, “I would like to ask Shelly to come up here and say a few words.”
Slowly, Shelly got up and started walking toward the podium. She started out speaking softly, but gradually got more confident. “First of all, I would like to thank the President for inviting us to the White House. We are all thrilled to be here. This is a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Second, I want to say, that this is the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.”
After more applause, Shelly continued: “I know that people are making a big fuss about what our troop has accomplished, but instead, you should be making a big fuss about what people are not doing.”
“I do not mean to disagree with the President, but I think that our nation is lacking in compassion. No one wants to get involved, to help others in need. Citizens need to become more compassionate in their everyday lives. Even good manners are missing from our society.”
“Everybody is in such a hurry that few people take the time to hold a door open for someone, or give up a seat on a train or a bus for elderly, disabled or pregnant passengers. When was the last time you saw a man, pull out a chair for a lady, or help her with her coat? When people do hold a door open for someone, there is not so much as a simple thank you. Men do not always remove their hats inside church or other buildings, and boys see this as acceptable behavior. People do not even remove their hats in presence of the American Flag anymore.”
“If everyone would start using good manners, and show each other respect and courtesy we could be on our way to an even greater nation.”
Shelly paused for a moment and took a drink of water. The applause was deafening.
A reporter for the New York Times asked, “Shelly, have you ever considered going into politics?” Shelly hesitated and looked at the president.
“Go ahead Shelly,” replied the President, “you can answer some questions, if you feel comfortable.”
Shelly cleared her throat and began “I would never fit in as a politician; I care too much about this country.”
When she saw a few puzzled looks, she continued: “Let me explain. A long time ago, people ran for office because they truly wanted to make our nation, our states and cities a better place to live, but over the years, it has become more about power, money, status, ego and fame.”
“It is no longer about ‘what can I do to help the people.’ Instead, it is, ‘what can I do that will make me popular, or make a name for myself, or make me more powerful’.”
“They care more about a million-dollar book deal, and how much money they will get for speaking engagements after they leave office. Congress gets to decide about the health insurance and the social security/retirement for all Americans, yet members of Congress get the best health insurance and retirement benefits, paid for by the taxpayers. Citizens are losing their jobs and homes, while Congress can vote themselves pay raises, and they get free housing, paid for by the taxpayers. In good conscience, I could not live like that.”
The entire press corps was on their feet and clapping as loud as they could. They had never heard a child with so much spirit before, telling Congress how Americans felt. No adult would have the nerve to say what she had said.
Next, a reporter from Newsweek Magazine asked, “Shelly, what advice do you have for the government, to help make our country better?”
“Well, what I would tell the government has already been said many times” started Shelly, “Make housing and health care more affordable to everyone. I would stop Congress from accepting money from lobbyists and private interest groups who buy their votes. I think that Congress should be held accountable for their spending. Private citizens have to live on a balanced budget; why shouldn’t the government have to as well?”
“Whatever happened to living by the words: ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people?’ They might as well just change it to, ‘of the government, by the government and for the government’.”
Shelly looked over at the president, to see if he looked angry at what she had just said. She could not tell.
“He said to speak from my heart and that’s what I am doing,” thought Shelly.
Another reporter asked if Shelly had any advice for America. Shelly hesitated and then began saying what came to her.
“If you want to start making this nation a better place to live in, start with the children. Parents need to start parenting. If you truly love your kids, do not give them everything they ask for. They do not need their own phone, television, IPod, car, etc. If they want those things, let them get jobs and earn them.”
“ If you give your kids everything they think they ‘need’, then they will get used to that material possession lifestyle and when they are out on their own, they run up their credit card bills so high that they will have to file for bankruptcy down the road.”
“Believe it or not, your kids will love you for just spending time with them. Take them fishing, play catch with them, read to them and have them read to you. Teach your kids to be self-sufficient, to respect others.”
“Listen to your kids, I mean, really listen to what they are saying. Talk to them about drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex. Answer their questions. If you do not know all the answers, then help them to find the answers.”
“Set a good example for your kids to follow. Be honest, truthful, and respectful of others. Go to church with your kids and help them to get a strong base of religion to help guide them through their lives.”
Shelly was on a roll now. She was saying things as they popped into her head. “If you want your kids to be healthy, then stop smoking and doing drugs. If you want them to eat healthy foods, lead by example. Take the junk food out of the schools. Is the money that schools make from vending machines, worth the resulting obesity and poor health of the kids?”
“Exercise with your kids, whether it is sports, running, bicycling, or just going for walks around the neighborhood.”
“Make sure that your kids are properly restrained in the car, as well as yourself.”
“Help your kids with their homework, do not do it for them. Get involved with their teachers. The education system works best when the parents, students and the teachers all interact. The teachers cannot do it by themselves.”
Shelly stopped to take a drink of water and there was more thunderous applause.
Shelly looked directly into the television camera. “I would like to speak directly to you, America” she said. There are children in our country who are starving and malnourished. There are kids who do not have good role models. There are kids who are failing in school, because we are failing them. The crime rate for young Americans is rising.”
“Speaking as one of our nation’s youth, I am reaching out to all of you. The kids need your help. There are plenty of organizations out there to help the kids, but they do not always have the money to reach as many of them as they would like.”
“I challenge every major corporation to donate at least one million dollars to a charity that helps our kids.”
“I challenge every other corporation to make as large of a donation as you can.”
“I challenge every family, every American, to give what you can to help our kids. Do not wait until next week, or next month. Please, write out that check today.”
“Finally, I encourage everybody, to help bring back basic family values. With everybody’s help, we can once again be the greatest nation in the world.”
“On a personal note, I would like to thank my parents, teachers and my pastor, for helping me to become the person I am today, by giving me everything that I need to grow up into a decent human being.”
As Shelly finished speaking, she received a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes, with cameras flashing all over the garden.
When asked what she wanted to do when she was grown up, Shelly said that she wanted to work with animals, or with children.
The president stood up and returned to the podium. He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Shelly, you are quite a remarkable young lady. Your parents and teachers must be very proud of you”
Shelly’s mom was watching the press conference on television at work with her staff, and they were all crying. Abby could not have been prouder of her daughter at that moment.
The president asked Shelly, if there was anyone that she wanted to say hello to on national television. Shelly replied, “I’d like to say hello to my parents, to Pastor Joe and the congregation of St. Luke’s Church, to all my friends in Santa Barbara, California especially Elanna and April, and all the teachers and students at Paterson Junior High, especially Mara and my best friend Jess.” All of the other girls had the chance to said hello to their family and friends as well.
When they had finished, the president began speaking again. “Girls, we have a special surprise for you. If you turn around, there are some people who would like to say thank you.”
As the girls turned around, a large television screen came to life. Through a satellite link to the Middle East, the girls could see thousands of military troops holding boxes of Girl Scout cookies and there was a huge banner which read “Thank you Troop 125 for the cookies and homemade cards, and more important, thank you for caring.”
Then, an Army general came on the screen and started talking to Shelly: “Shelly, we have been listening to you speak and you have touched the hearts of the troops here. We like your idea of sending money to help children so much, that in the past forty minutes, we have collected more than $100,000, which we will be sending to Boys and Girls Clubs of America. We want America to know that we are behind you 100%.”
The troops began chanting “Shelly! Shelly! Shelly!” As people all across the country, were watching, a camera panned over to Shelly who cheeks.
A strange phenomenon began taking place around America. In homes and businesses around the country, people were taking out their checkbooks and began writing out checks to children’s charities.
In schools, kids started putting spare change in jars.
At Paterson Junior High, Jess started chanting along with the soldiers: “Shelly! Shelly! Shelly!” Soon, the whole school was chanting her name. The principal; Mr. Leck told the students that when the girls returned to school, they would have an entire day of celebration, and no schoolwork.
As the girls followed the president back to the Oval Office, they were filled with excitement. They told Shelly what a terrific speech she made. Soon, it was time to return home. As the rest of the troop headed out to the bus, the President asked Shelly to stay back for a minute, that he wanted to speak with her. Shelly thought she was in trouble for some of the things she said.
“I’m sorry if I talked too long, or if I said something I shouldn’t have said. You said to speak from my heart and that is where that all came from.”
“Shelly,” said the President, “I am not upset with you. I am very proud of you. You spoke what needed to be said. It might not have been what many people wanted to hear, but it is what they needed to hear. It was the truth. Never stop speaking your mind, Shelly. I learned a lot from you today. I learned that our youth have a lot of good advice, if we would only listen.”