Life List- Being a Big with BBBS

Bigs & Littles at Eklutna Lake



I've been actively volunteering since I was thirteen years old for a variety of reasons but it wasn't until 2003 that I got turned on to Big Brothers, Big Sisters. I'd always felt that it only took one person at the right time to help shape a life but I wasn't sure I could be that person. In 2008 after a cross-country move, a messy divorce and a life rebuild I decided to call the local office to see if they needed a warm body.

 They did and I was matched with a terrific little girl who had a horrible home life. (LK = Little K) There was State involvement with the family going back two generations. Several children with different fathers living in a broken down unheated trailer, kids had spent time in foster care, and dealt with their parents various addictions. LK was only seven when I met her and what a firecracker of a kid. She was cheerful, optimistic and you couldn't help but love her. We were matched for just over a year when her mother went off the rails and the kids were placed out of State with the youngest's biological father.

I was devastated. I withdrew my name from the program.

Then I got a call. There was a little boy who really wanted a big sister.

We've been together ever since. DZ is made of cool. He can bust a move, quote music lyrics, drags me to see god-awful chipmunk movies and bakes a mean batch of cookies, plus he's king of the rink-skates circles around me.

 So yea. BBBS is a great program and it has definitely impacted my life.

 You should check it out :)

http://www.bbbs.org/

Life List

Scuba dive | Cross the Canadian border | Have a croissant at a French cafe | Try escargot | Go snorkeling| Take a road trip across the U.S. | Have an exceptional time in Italy | Whiskey at a pub in Ireland | Make cinnamon rolls from scratch | Go on a multi-day biking trip | Travel with Carol | Take a stained glass class| Grow vegetables | Learn to roll in a kayak | Write a novel | Camp under the Redwoods| Spend two weeks on the Oregon Coast| Help someone get into or through college | Do ten pull ups | Go berry picking | Rescue a pound dog| Go sky diving| Sleep under the stars| Make a peaceful living space for my family | Tithe | Live in a house with a window seat | Live in a house with sky lights| Pretend we've had a power outage | Plant a tree when each of my children are born | Own land | Take a two-week vacation without computers | Lemonade on the back porch on a warm summer night | Finish up or give up all the unfinished projects in the house | Learn to play kick the can and teach my children| Play 4 square | Buy stock on my own | Make a quilt | Learn to sew | Read or attempt every book on the banned list| Recycle | Have a family portrait painted | Sleep in a tree house | Built a tree house/fort| Take a painting class | Learn to use my camera | Finish our wedding album | Visit Nova Scotia| Learn how I like Scotch | Decorate a nursery | Try eating vegetarian for a year| Make my own preserves| Take an astronomy class| Learn to use a telescope| Grow kiwi vines| Learn to read music| Pay off my Prius| Adopt a child| Be a foster parent| Donate blood four times a year| Be a Big with Big Brothers, Big Sisters| Learn how to make soap| Become a life long member of KSKA public radio| Run a sustainable 10 min. mile|Attend an Old 97's concert| Be a fairy godmother for someone|