From day one on the ship, there was a guy named Jeff Porter who adopted me as his little sister and I LOVED spending time with him! He had gone home to visit family and watched “All Dogs go to Heaven” and came back to the ship ranting about how this was the story of our friendship and from there on out he was “Charlie” and I was “Squeeker”. One of my most vivid memories with Jeff was when we went to the movie theatre to watch Star Trek Generations (more on that later) and then we had friends in the other theater watching Forest Gump so we asked the workers if we could just go in and watch that too and we made it a double feature. Then the summer when I was 13, our family had gone to TX and I still remember when we pulled up to where the ship was docked Jeff running towards our car and pulling me out in excitement. He had a big secret that he was going to propose. While Shelia got ready for their date, he nervously sat in my cabin in front of my fan trying to control his nervous sweating. I was so happy except that it meant that he moved off the ship later that year when they got married.
So I loved Star Trek The Next Generation at 13 for 3 simple reasons. #1. There were not many options of things to watch onboard and for some reason the ship had ended up every episode available. #2. I loved that they were also a ship which traveled around and related to the relationships that developed because of living in community. #3. Because it is awesome. : ) My mom laughed because one day she came into the crew lounge (a common area with couches and a tv) and the ship’s Captain, the Chief Engineer, Ship Director and 13 year old me were all watching Star Trek together. In my defense, I have never been a fan of the other Star Trek series, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for Star Trek The Next Generation and when I hear, “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise. It’s continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before” I admit that I get super excited!
That school year, we had a teacher named Miss Donna who loved teaching us performances. We had several songs that we would perform for crew events and any special events where we had guests onboard. Then in the spring she directed us in Godspell. I LOVED all of our performances, but Godspell was amazing. She actually did such an incredible job with what she had to work with. Then she found us a theater close to where the ship was that we got to see an actual performance of Godspell.
Amy moved back onto the ship that spring. We were such opposites were such a good balance to each other. We could have crazy fights, but then if anyone else messed with either of us (or we got bored of fighting), we were back to being thick as thieves. We found so many crazy adventures to have together. And let me tell you, we were extremely boy crazy. I was actually kissed by a boy for the first time (besides little kid kisses) that year at Camp Faithful and I remember waking up the next morning and still being able to feel where his lips had touched mine. I have always been a big romantic. : ) I also remember that there was a DTS event that I had wanted to go to, but wasn’t allowed and so one of the guys had come home from it and brought me a rose because he knew I was sad. It was not a romantic gesture, but I had a big crush on him and I remember waking up with the rose by my bed.
That summer we went to Chicago for the first time and were docked right under the Michigan Ave bridge at the Magnificent Mile. I am not sure why I was so scared of Chicago, but the first night when my family went out to explore, I wouldn’t tell them that I was too afraid that I would be murdered, but I wouldn’t go with them. They must have eventually realized I was scared so my dad came to talk to me about it and finally got it out of me and told me that most murders happen from someone you knew and did I know anyone in Chicago that wanted to kill me? After I was brave enough to leave the ship, it became one of my favorite cities. Amy and I met a really fun family that had us come spend the night at their house and my mom let me and a friend go shop by ourselves on the Magnificent Mile by ourselves for the first time.
While 13, we were in Houston (then the ship went to Haiti, but our family went to Lindale so we could spend Christmas with Jill & Martha), Jacksonville, FL; Montreal, Quebec; Grand Haven, MI; Chicago, IL; then my family road tripped to TX for Martha’s graduation and then back up to Canada to spend time with family, NH to visit my grandparents, and then down to CT where I got to go to Camp Faithful again), Cleveland, Ohio (then I went to Chamberburg, PA and baclwoods, WV); Toronto, Ontario; Morehead City, NC; Jacksonville, FL; and Tampa, FL.
So I loved Star Trek The Next Generation at 13 for 3 simple reasons. #1. There were not many options of things to watch onboard and for some reason the ship had ended up every episode available. #2. I loved that they were also a ship which traveled around and related to the relationships that developed because of living in community. #3. Because it is awesome. : ) My mom laughed because one day she came into the crew lounge (a common area with couches and a tv) and the ship’s Captain, the Chief Engineer, Ship Director and 13 year old me were all watching Star Trek together. In my defense, I have never been a fan of the other Star Trek series, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for Star Trek The Next Generation and when I hear, “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise. It’s continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before” I admit that I get super excited!
That school year, we had a teacher named Miss Donna who loved teaching us performances. We had several songs that we would perform for crew events and any special events where we had guests onboard. Then in the spring she directed us in Godspell. I LOVED all of our performances, but Godspell was amazing. She actually did such an incredible job with what she had to work with. Then she found us a theater close to where the ship was that we got to see an actual performance of Godspell.
Amy moved back onto the ship that spring. We were such opposites were such a good balance to each other. We could have crazy fights, but then if anyone else messed with either of us (or we got bored of fighting), we were back to being thick as thieves. We found so many crazy adventures to have together. And let me tell you, we were extremely boy crazy. I was actually kissed by a boy for the first time (besides little kid kisses) that year at Camp Faithful and I remember waking up the next morning and still being able to feel where his lips had touched mine. I have always been a big romantic. : ) I also remember that there was a DTS event that I had wanted to go to, but wasn’t allowed and so one of the guys had come home from it and brought me a rose because he knew I was sad. It was not a romantic gesture, but I had a big crush on him and I remember waking up with the rose by my bed.
That summer we went to Chicago for the first time and were docked right under the Michigan Ave bridge at the Magnificent Mile. I am not sure why I was so scared of Chicago, but the first night when my family went out to explore, I wouldn’t tell them that I was too afraid that I would be murdered, but I wouldn’t go with them. They must have eventually realized I was scared so my dad came to talk to me about it and finally got it out of me and told me that most murders happen from someone you knew and did I know anyone in Chicago that wanted to kill me? After I was brave enough to leave the ship, it became one of my favorite cities. Amy and I met a really fun family that had us come spend the night at their house and my mom let me and a friend go shop by ourselves on the Magnificent Mile by ourselves for the first time.
While 13, we were in Houston (then the ship went to Haiti, but our family went to Lindale so we could spend Christmas with Jill & Martha), Jacksonville, FL; Montreal, Quebec; Grand Haven, MI; Chicago, IL; then my family road tripped to TX for Martha’s graduation and then back up to Canada to spend time with family, NH to visit my grandparents, and then down to CT where I got to go to Camp Faithful again), Cleveland, Ohio (then I went to Chamberburg, PA and baclwoods, WV); Toronto, Ontario; Morehead City, NC; Jacksonville, FL; and Tampa, FL.
While we were in Cleveland, Selena and Crissy came to visit for a few days, and then Selena came up with a plan to bring me back to Chambersburg with them. This was the first time that I realized that Selena could pretty much talk anyone into anything she wanted. We drove to PA listening to Flemming and John the whole time and met the rest of the Strite family. We even went over to Grandma and Pappy’s house. Then I went on her youth trip to work with Habitat for Humanity in WV with her. I loved Chambersburg and the people I met here. Then when we were in FL later that year, her family was on vacation and stopped by the ship where Dan & I went to watch the rocket launch at Cape Canaveral with them and then we went to Ron Jon Surf Shop and played mini golf. Selena has a brother Wes who was a year younger than me who quickly joined our posse.
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