13- The teenage years begin!

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.

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.

Ships Ahoy at 12

My 12 year old pics seem to be temparily MIA. Probably for the best as I did get a crazy perm that year. Let your mind conjure up that beautiful image...

For my 12th birthday, I did something I had never done before. We always knew that my mom hid our presents in her room. For the first time I peeked and it made opening the presents and having to pretend to be surprised such a let down that I never did that again. I had a new found obsession with the Dallas Cowboys and my mom had gotten me some pretty nice loot. That Spring I even somehow convinced my extremely un-sporty family to watch the Super Bowl with me and the Cowboys won.

So 12 rolled around and after Christmas we again made the road trip down to the TX. We rented a house in Van, TX where most of the Mercy Ships staff sent their kids to school. 6th grade in Van was in the middle school and this was a whole new world for me. I had to get used to changing classes, lockers, locker rooms, and the snobby girls of middle school. My first day of school in Van, we spent a good hour outside because of a bomb threat. Boys here were different. They made sexual comments and I was mobbed on my first day to see who I was going to “Go with.”

That summer we drove to Tampa, FL, and moved onto the newest ship, the M/V Caribbean Mercy. We were each allowed to bring what fit into 2 boxes. My stuff of course was overflowing and I had to sit on it all the way to Tampa because I couldn’t bear to part with my treasures.

I loved meeting the 100 other crew members who had just moved on too. Some of them we had known from the Good Sam. There was never a lack of people to talk with. Then it happened. We started sailing. And I thought I was going to die. I get motion sick on swings so when all of a sudden the whole ship is rocking and rolling, let’s just say it was rough for me.

On that sail we were passing Cuba when one of the watchmen spotted a little fishing boat about a mile off the coast. There appeared to be several people in the boat and they were frantically waving to us. We circled them until we got the go ahead from the coast guard to let them come onboard. Just in time as shortly after a big wave hit their boat and it sunk. They were trying to escape Cuba to come to America, but they were out of food and water only a mile from the coast and 1 of the ladies was almost dead from heat stroke. We kept them onboard overnight until the Coast Guard could come and pick them up. We were all stunned to see what desperation could lead people to do. Later I heard about someone who made it from Cuba to the Florida coast in an inner tube. Shocking that they survived!

And off we went back to the Dominican Republic. This experience was MUCH better than the 1st! I started helping in teach the pre-school onboard and loved that! In the afternoons I would swim in the pool that was set up on the dock, and go out into the villages at night with the teams. The teams built a church, dug wells, and did free medical and dental procedures. One thing about living on the ship those first years though was that it was not air conditioned, it was black & made of metal, and we were in a tropical climate. IT WAS HOT!!! Amy and I started sleeping out on deck everynight under the stars which we continued doing for the next 4 years. Be best was sleeping under the stars when we were sailing and looking up at the mast amongst the endless starry sky only you had to make sure I held tight to my foam mattress I slept on so it wouldn’t fly away and when I would wake up in the morning I would always be salty and wet. I spent the majority of nights between the ages of 12-16 sleeping outside under the stars which is something I really miss!

There were teams that came and volunteered short term that summer. One came from California with a bunch of teenagers that Amy and I had tons of fun with and then a team came from Chambersburg, PA led by a man named Gene Strite. I remember sitting out on the deck talking to him about his family. His oldest daughter Selena and her best friend Crissy were on the team too. They were 2 years older than me and thought my brother was cute and I thought they were so beautiful and cool, but one day we were all sitting around giggling about this weird doll and we decided to become pen pals.

The hardest part of living on the ship was saying goodbye to the new friends that you made. I always cried.

We sailed back to Jacksonville, FL, and had our first Discipleship Training School come onboard. I LOVED when the new DTS students came onboard! A family moved on with 2 boys just slightly younger than me and we started school in the little classroom they had set up onboard which was like a 1 room school with all the ages together.

While we were in FL, someone paid to take all of the “ships kids” to Disney World. I LOVED it! Luke was terrified of roller coasters, but we convinced him to come on Splash Mountain with us. He was having major anxiety all the way through the line and then we started through the ride. He saw an exit sign (for the workers) and all of a sudden jumped out of the cart. I still remember seeing him standing there with the charactors in the sceen and remember the look Miss Jana gave him.:)

International at 11

11 was the first year that I didn’t have a birthday party. Anyone who knows my mom knows she is uber creative, but when I informed here that I wanted to invite 1 girl & 10 5th grade boys, it was just too much for her. : ) I remember that year we spent Christmas in Canada with the Olmsteads, but I still remember coming home one day from school and my mom had decorated the whole living room for us and I remember being in awe of how beautiful it all was! We had a fireplace in that house and she had decorated the mantel with pine and her musical angels. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.

In January, we packed up the trusty Astro Van and road tripped down to Lindale, TX, to start our Mercy Ships training. I was picturing tumbleweeds and prairie desert, but the Mercy Ships base was huge and green and tons of woods and pastures and lakes that we spent hours exploring. And the climate was so much warmer than CT had been! I quickly learned that TX was a totally different culture than New England. People were super friendly, they all were VERY proud of TX, you had to say “Yes sir & yes mame” instead of "yeah", they said “Ya’ll” and they still allowed corporal punishment in public schools (my mouth dropped when I found this terrifying fact out). We started attending Lindale Public schools where I quickly became made a sweet group of friends and we were taught how to square dance during gym class. The one thing I really struggled with those 3 months is that everyday my dad would pick all the Mercy Ships kids up from school and everyday I was TERRIFIED that they would forget me for some reason. Of course he never ever did, but I had major anxiety about it EVERYDAY as I frantically searched the cars for the one he was driving.

After 3 months at the base, Outreach time came. We first drove to Houston to meet up with Mercy Ships' M/V Good Samaritan. I fell in love with ship life right away. You lived in this little contained world with all these other fun people. Then they gave us a shot in our butts (literally- we used to have to line up for our gamma globulin injections before Hep A & B shots became popular) and we flew off to the Dominican Republic. Let’s just say my first international travel experience was not a good one. I got SO sick. For weeks. I got so skinny that I hate looking at the pictures. I hated international travel, I hated plantains that they served every way imaginable. I hated culture. I hated roasters crowing first thing in the morning. I was proud to be an American and I just wanted to get back to the States where I could drink the water and not get sick and where they had chocolate and not everyone stared at me and touched me because of my blonde hair. It is a good thing that that was not my last travel experience or else I would have never left the USA again. The one happy memory I have from that 2 months was that there were these baby lizards in our house and there was one that would always come hang out on my pillow during the day.

I survived my first International adventure and we headed back to Southington, CT, for 6 months to pack up our life and prepare to join Mercy Ships full time. A benefit of starting 2 school years in CT and ending them in TX we discovered was that CT starts school almost a month later than TX and TX ends their school year almost a month earlier than CT.

Another thing I realized is that somewhere within that 6 months I was away was that 5th grade boys think very differently about girls than 6th grade boys did. All of a sudden instead of being picked last for the kickball game because I was the worst player, I got picked first because I was the cutest player. They also loved giving me presents for some reason. Jewlery and the Ace of Ace tape randomly showed up on my desk. That first half of 6th grade was so fun. In Southington, 6th grade was still in the elementary school and we ruled the school. I helped run the school store, I gave the 2nd grade class their spelling tests, we played Oregon Trail, we made music videos of UB40 songs and did the Nutcracker as a play for Christmas.

A Bit Toothy at 10

10 came on the wings of stirrup pants and Debbie Gibson Electric Youth perfume. Since my
birthday and Christmas are only 20 apart, I can’t remember what I got for which, but by the time December 26th rolled around, I was the proud owner of a skateboard, suede boots, a jean jacket, Exclamation perfume, and my first “real grownup” tape- Amy Grant heart in motion. I thought I was the hottest thing around! I was SO excited for my 10th birthday because I was finally “double digits.”

After years of being in love with Justin Connor, I had finally started to move on, but all of a sudden I knew for sure that he was going to “ask me out.” He arranged a time for us to meet and so I arranged to hide my 2 female friends in our cottage beforehand so that they could hear the whole exchange and give me advice later on what to say to him. Justin came in, asked me if I would like a cup of tea, and then started expressing his feelings for me. All of a sudden he
spotted one of the spys. Luckily we were already the best of friends and he forgave me. I accepted the ring he had purchased for me to signify our relationship, but swore him to secrecy so that my mom would not find out since I was not technically allowed to have a boyfriend.

10 was when things really started changing for our family again. After years of hearing missionary stories and having missionaries on furlough to come visit us, my parents came to us and told us that we would be leaving Danbury and becoming missionaries. At first they were looking into joining Wycliff Bible Translators. My dad gave his notice at the church and we planned to move into one of the year round houses that my dad was fixing up at Camp Faithful til we were ready to go. Then we were no longer joining Wycliff, but my parents knew missions was next for us. Our old pastor from Canterbury was presently a missionary with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and told us about Mercy Ships and since my dad was an engineer with years of ship yard experience, it seemed like the perfect fit.

So we started packing our Danbury house to move to Southington, CT for the first half of my 5th grade school year. Jill ended up heading off to college a year earlier than originally planned and she moved to MASS. The school I started going to in Southington was a lot smaller than Pembroke in Danbury and I remember being so nervous the whole first morning about who I was going to sit with at lunch, but the kids ended up being so friendly at that school. I had always had a lot of guy friends, but at this new school the boys were so much fun and so much less dramatic than the 5th grade girls, that one of the other girls in my class, Tammy, and I spent all our time with the boys in the class instead of the girls. We still got invited to the girl slumber parties, but when recess rolled around, we were invited to play kickball with the boys and when groups were chosen, we were loyal to the boys. I spent pretty much every afternoon that I wasn’t over at Tammy’s riding my bike around the campground. I had not yet figured out my style and had started buying some of my own clothes, but dresses were an issue for me. The dresses that everyone else wore (and were what I currently owned) were too silly frilly for me and I
hadn’t yet discovered a good alternative. The church that we went to at that time, I had to dress up at so I would wear one of my silly frilly dresses and then cover it with my big bright orange
windbreaker. Luckily more stylish days were ahead!

When I was 9 I discovered that I loved to read. I come from a long generation of readers, but had not yet fallen in love with it til I discovered…. The Babysitters Club Series. Jill had read them and owned a bunch of them. From the first book I discoved a feeling that I had never felt before... when you are out in a social setting and all you can think about was coming getting back to your book to find out what happened in your story. I would hide under my blankets at night with a flashlight to try to read just a few more pages when I was supposed to be sleeping. I ended up trading my pencil collection to "purchase" additional Baby Sitters Club books and read them constantly. I also discovered American Girl books around this time. At the time there were only Molly, Samantha, Felicity, and Kirsten, but I loved learning about history while getting caught up in an adventurous story.

The summer when I was 9 I was finally old enough to go to Camp Faithful's Junior Camp which was a week long over night camp. I know that my parents were on the campground because my dad was the camp director that year, but I never was one of the campers who would get homesick. Stacy was my counselor that first year and for somehow I convinced Justin's cousin Jackie to join the polar bear club with me where we would jump in the freezing pool first thing every morning. That was my last year for that! The last night of camp every year was the banquet and the big thing all week was who you were going to go to the banquet with. There was this one guy counselor who ALL of the camp girls LOVED named Todd who was 18. He wore cut of jean shorts and had a mullett and everyone thought he was dreamy! Well I was sitting in the snack bar line one day talking to Mams and Todd walked up to me and invited me to the banquet with him. I was SO embarrased that he had asked me in front of my mom, but of course I said yes. Oh the girls were so jealous. I, of course then, was way too nervous throughout the meal to even talk with Todd. Cute older boys have always made me nervous. : )

Camp Faithful ended up being the place for many memories and firsts. We had gone to Camp Faithful for a fellowship day that spring. I have always LOVED having my back scratched and would always try to convince people to scratch it for me, but that day it seemed extra itchy. My mom got suspicious and lift up my shirt and discovered it... I had caught the chicken pox that was passing around class. I was so relieved though because I had wanted to catch it since I had heard that catching it as an adult could be fatal. One day my mom had to run to the store to get more medicine for me and she left me at home by myself which was so exciting because it was the first time that I had ever stayed by myself! Towards the end of the week Danielle and Leslie came to visit me since they had already had the chicken pox previously and it was so fun to be able to play with friends even though I was sick.

I received the sad news that year that Leslie's dad had been transfered to GA so she was going to be moving. Her parents had 2 house options they were looking at that she got to choose if she wanted to move during the summer, or if she wanted to do half of 4th grade in Danbury. We had been so excited to find out that we had been put in the same class for 4th grade that she chose to stay longer in Danbury which I was thrilled about.

In 4th grade we had the option to join band at school. I decided I wanted to learn how to play the trumpet. I was the only girl who decided to play the trumpet. I remember bringing it home the first day and blowing it outside and one of the neighbors yelling out their door for me to "Shut Up!" The only problem with playing was that I HATED practicing. My brother decided to play trumpet shortly after he tried mine out and he was a natural. Me... not so much. I didn't bother to learn to read music so I just kind of played whatever note I felt should come next and I took great pride in my ability to do so. Then my mom bought her first video camera and videoed our concert at the local public library. I was mortified when I discovered I could hear one trumpet that never played the same notes as all the rest.

The feather bangs of an 8 year old

One of my favorite memories of being 8 was I got to be a flower girl in my cousin Dawn’s wedding. I still to this day love spending time with both sides of my family as I have been blessed with an amazing family and if there is one thing that we know how to do, it is have a great time! I still remember Dawn coming and asking me to be one of her flower girls, I remember going dress shopping with her and loving trying on all the beautiful dresses, and then came the wedding day. I was not allowed to sit down after I put on my dress so it wouldn’t wrinkle, but I LOVED the romance, the beautiful church, the excitement, spending time with my relatives (even though Dawn was Dad’s niece, she invited my Mom’s sister Janet who was visiting to attend the wedding with us) and then THE RECEPTION. I had never danced at a party before so when Ken Ortman asked me to dance with him and I told him I didn’t know how, he replied, “Oh it’s easy, just act like you have to go to the bathroom.” Well that was it, I danced my heart out the rest of the evening! I loved my dress so much that I wore it every Sunday to church for the rest of the year.

I was possibly the world’s pickiest eater when I was a kid. I didn’t really enjoy food. A lot of the textures made me gag and I didn’t enjoy a lot of tastes. Up until I moved out of the house, I would have anxiety eating at other people’s houses especially when boyfriend’s parents were involved because I would be afraid that I would have to force myself to eat something I didn’t like and would gag in front of them. It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s and still gagged at meals that my parents finally started believing that I wasn’t doing it on purpose. I was also stuburn though and refused to eat things that I didn’t like. I had to stay sitting at the table til my food was eaten so many a night I spent alone at the table long after the family was done and onto other things. I kinda wish I still had the problem of not liking food. : )

One thing that I hated doing at this age was every Sunday after church, we went to visit a lady named Dee at the local nursing home. Not only did we visit, but we had to sing to her every week. If you have heard my family sing, I can’t believe that this would be the highlight of anyone’s week, but they LOVED us at the nursing home and sometimes we would draw quite a large crowd of the residence.

During my 8th year, a girl named Leslie Rosebourgh moved to town. She was beautiful and quickly became the most popular girl in school. And for some reason she chose me to be her favorite friend. She was an only child in a wealthy family and I was so astonished by the life she led. I remember driving in her dad’s sports car to bring her mom’s fur coat to be preserved through the summer, every season her mom got rid of all her clothes and bought her all new ones and her mom cooked her vegetables in sugar so Leslie would eat them- with her fingers. Some people have all the luck. : )

Sassy 7!

My first dream came true at 7. When I was 7, I discovered something that I really wanted. To be a Girl Scot Brownie. There was a boy in my class named Harley (who declared his love for me and then informed me that he was going to hand cuff me and lock me into a room so no other man could have me… way to be a creeper already at 7 Harley) had told me that it cost $100 to be a Brownie. $100 was a ton of money and I knew that my parents didn’t have a lot of money so I didn’t ask my mom if I could join, but I wanted to so badly. One night I was getting ready for bed in my room and I could hear my mom in her bedroom talking on the phone. When she got off the phone she came in and asked me if I would like to be a Brownie because she had just signed me up. I clasped my hands together and declared to her, “It would be a dream come true.” I LOVED everything about Brownies. My brother’s friend Lindsay passed me down her old Brownie uniform which were polyester pants. Everytime I put on those pants, my sash, yellow bow tie and the belt with the little coin purse for my dues I felt FABULOUS! I remember our induction ceremony, sleeping in A-frames at Girl Scot Camp, and singing Girl Scot Songs… Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the others gold.

The Little Mermaid came to theaters that year and my mom took us and tried to cover my eyes everytime Ursula came on the screen. Finally life made sense- a princess of the ocean who was also a hoarder? My heart had found a hero. I memorized every song and truly believed I sounded just like her when I sang them. Everyday I played little mermaid on the play ground and even had some of the boys willing to play Erik. My other hero was Shirley Temple. She sang and danced her way through life and I was so jealous of her crazy curls. Oh how I wanted to be Shirley Temple!

On the topics of heros...my parents did not let us watch much tv. We weren't allowed to watch Saturday morning cartoons or most modern tv shows. We were allowed to watch Little House on the Prarie, The Brady Bunch, and Gillian's Island. To say I L.O.V.E.D. Ginger is an understatement. I adored her. Then a lady started coming to our church named Ginger who I also thought was glamourous and who would let me sit beside her and she would pull all sorts of fun treats out of her purse for me to play with like lip glosses and smelly lotions (there were not alot of things like lip gloss or smelly lotions in out practical household.) I was so bummed that my mom had not named me Ginger. It made perfect sense to me that I had been given the wrong name. When I asked my mom about this, she informed me that Ginger was an ugly name. That is why my alter-ego began.

In 2nd grade, Courtney and I were put in separate classes and for and only time in my life I experienced bullying. 2 girls in my class decided to make me their target because they knew I was a Christian and they actually informed me I had to “turn the other cheek as a good Christian” and not tell on them. We had assigned seats at lunch and they were the 2 who sat the closest to me. Their biggest thing they teased me about it that I was poor and brought “Ssips” juice boxes in my lunch. The one girl claimed her mom was a nurse and had informed her that only poor people drank Ssips and that they were very unhealthy. This went on for a few months and my mom started sending me little notes of encouragement in my lunch box everyday. I will never forget the day that the girl whose mom was supposed the Ssips bashing nurse, opened her lunch box…. and there with her sandwich and snacks, lay a Ssips juicebox. I never got teased by them again and later they actually tried really hard to get me to be friends with them.

Even though I was bullied, I was certainly not without friends. In addition to the friends I had mentioned from school and camp, Michelle Davis had started going to our church a year earlier. She was a year older than me and was allowed to listen to New Kids on the Block, and watch all the things I wasn’t. She fascinated me and we had so much fun together! Also when I was 7, Justin Conner started coming to our church. Justin was dramatic, extreme, adventurous and had an imagination as big as mine and big blue eyes and freckles as a bonus. Not only did I fall in love, I finally had someone who understood me and was willing to be as outrageous as I was.