P.I.F.

Probably one of the most awkward stages of my life was middle school or "Junior High" as it was called. Your body suddenly goes through rapid unforgiving changes, you are trying to figure out whether you are still a "kid," and adults around think you are just as weird as you feel. I empathize for all the kids going through that time of life. Such a strange time and there were not many lessons taught to know why it was happening and how to deal with it. I remember a specific time when one of my all time best friends, Nikki, decided to tell me what she overheard Erik saying from the lunch table a couple rows down. I had just grabbed my "hot" lunch and Nikki was already at the table since the only days she stood in that line was for food was when we had weiner roll ups or Italian dunkers. She informed me that Erik was talking to his buddies about how "Amy K's boobs are really getting big." Awesome.....I can't say it was all bad. I mean, it wasn't the most charming thing in the world, but at least he wasn't talking about my thighs and butt's growth spurt, right? OK maybe it's still rude, but really there are girls across the world paying for larger boobs, so I guess I could feel like I had some bonus during the many "negative" changes that took place at that time.

A year before I married, I had left a message on a general machine to discuss ways in which I could volunteer for any groups or activities that helped deal with the massive meth problem that was destroying my family and my community at that time. A lady named Alison returned my phone call shortly after and we had discussed the organizations that were in the works to help stop the epidemic that was taking over the lives of too many. I was feeling helpless in the situation that directly impacted my loved ones, so I needed to find a way to help even if it was not directly changing the people next to me. I couldn't sit at home anymore. I needed to be active in helping with the fight. I remember praying harder than I have ever prayed during that time while the emotions flooded through and the tears just poured out. There is no feeling of helplessness quite like the one you have when a devastating drug consumes the life of the people you love. The group I joined really helped me to push some of the emotions forward. Alison had also told me of a group that her and a few other ladies wanted to start called PIF and asked if I would be interested in joining.

PIF is a group that was started with an agenda to help girls in middle school, 6th-8th grade, who needed guidance, who maybe were struggling with family, struggling with school, struggling with friends. These were girls who not only had to deal with the awkwardness of middle school and the changed that come with it, but they also had to deal with additional struggles that made the "normal" changes even more difficult to deal with. I LOVED the idea of the group! I was excited and very happy to be chosen to be a leader of this group of young ladies get through a time of there life that may shape a big part of who they become. I could relate to all of them in one way or another and was happy to work with a group of leaders who were compassionate about making the middle school experience a positive one. We saw a light in the girls that grew brighter as our time with them grew. It was a wonderful experience. I ended up stepping back from the group as a leader after Mason was born due to difficulty with my schedule, but am happy to be able to teach them during one session each year about all the strange body changes that occur and why. It's a life changing group that has truly helped shape many young ladies lives. One of the girls went on to become Buffalo Royalty!

An ironic thing happened to me on September 7th. I remember the date because it was the day after Dave's Birthday and we were planning to go out for drinks. I had a very long and busy day at work, didn't get much sleep the night before, and had a 2 hour staff meeting after my 8.5 hour shift. I was exhausted to say the least. I needed a large Caramel Machiatto from Dunn Bros. I headed to get my drink and just as I was ready to turn into the driveway leading to the drivethru, a lady in a mini van was headed out and blocked the driveway for me to enter. I quickly stepped on my brakes and waved her to go onto the road ahead of me so I could enter the driveway. Just as I'm about to enter, my Tahoe dies. I thought "Oh great!" I quickly turned the key as I panic watching cars around me pass.It fires right up and a sudden glimmer of hope appears. I step on the gas to entice it to continue idling, but just as quickly as the glimmer of hope came, it quickly dies. With my phone in my hand and people heading in my direction from behind, I quickly put on my emergency lights while simultaneously dialing Dave's number. I look in my rear view mirror and see a car fastly approaching my tail end and think, "GO AROUND! CAN'T YOU SEE MY EMERGENCY LIGHTS!" She stops and puts her emergency lights on too and I realize she wants to help. With a sigh of relief I hop out of the car and realize that it's the mother of one of the very first girls that I helped mentor in PIF! She didn't know it was me before I stepped out of my car, but saw someone in need of help and came to the rescue. I gave her a giant hug and she says, "You need any help hun?" I barely even had my emergency lights on and she was already behind me willing to help. I told her that everything should be fine since Dave was on his way and she said, "Well do want me to help you move your car out of the way and maybe see if jumping it would help?" Smiling from ear to ear I said, "That would be awesome! Let me call Dave quick to tell him to wait to come." I put the car in neutral, guided the steering wheel, while we both pushed it to the side of the road. I gathered up my jumper cables and she parked her car to face mine. With her cars power to mine, the Tahoe turned right over and idled even longer than the first time, but psyched me out and shut off. In the meantime, I had 3 other people stop to ask if I needed a hand. You just don't think that there are that many people who want to help total strangers anymore, so I was very thankful for each and every offer. By this time, Dave was on his way and my PIF mom and me were chatting trying to diagnose what may be the problem. We also went on to give a brief update on life since diagnosing cars was not really our specialty. Dave quickly showed up with a tow rope in hand and I gave a few more hugs to my "angel" and felt like I couldn't thank her enough. It's funny how in the end people really do Pay It Forward.