A REAL surprise!

I don't know about you, but a lot of things I do, like driving home from work, stopping at the end of the driveway and getting out to cross the street and get the mail, are done by habit. Your mind, obviously is paying attention to driving, but otherwise blank. I often try to use the 5 minute drive home to clear my mind of the stress and clutter from work - either listening to the car radio or thinking about what my plans are for the evening.

Such was the case yesterday. It was Tuesday night and I always look forward to my Tuesday Night Defensive Shooting group at Genesee Conservation League.

So I open my mailbox expecting the usual stash of junk mail and catalogs. This time it was different. There, on top of the stack of mail, was an envelope with a handwritten address! I picked it up and looked in the upper left hand corner at the address label. . . "Carolyn Smith" Where have I heard that name before. . . my mind was churning. . . I knew that name, but from WHERE? It was from Cantonment, Florida, a small town just north of Pensacola, my hometown.

Oh, my God! Carolyn! Yes, Yes! Oh, my God! I hadn't seen her since my mother's memorial service 20 years ago in Pensacola.

I quickly opened it up wondering how she got my address and why I was hearing from her after all these years. I went to high school with her and her husband (they are still married!). We're talking decades ago, folks!!!

From the time I was 12 years old until I was 18 (or was it 20? Can't remember), I was a Rainbow Girl, a member of the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. My father was a Mason, so it was natural that I would be inducted into the Rainbow Girls when I was 12. Back then the Rainbow Girls were well known and rather popular. I don't hear about them now, or at least not in New York.

This was an invitation, along with a short note to catch me up on her life, to a celebration of the 50th anniversary of our Rainbow Assembly coming up next month. Damn. . . could it really be THAT many years ago???

Then my mind turned to the other girls I knew in Rainbow. . . Patti Dees, Patti Kimbro, Cheryl Lewis, Kathy Robinson, Sandy Leitenberger, JoAnn Harris, and some that, though I can see their faces, I can't remember their names! Where are they now? What have their lives been like?

Wow! It's been a long time since I stopped to think about those years.