This week I finished the absolutely last, final, only remaining, the conclusive task left for me to do for Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Life of the Founder of the Girl Scouts—the index. Indexes matter a lot to many readers, and so I labored long and hard over it, as I happen to be one of those readers who loves a useful index. At any rate, I have sent it off to Viking, and everything is in their hands now. The next time I see the project, it will be mid-February when it will really and truly be a book.

Phew!

All this is to say that I am just now beginning to catch up on the rest of my life, which includes getting ready to attend the exciting 52nd biennial Girl Scout convention in Houston next week. I have been asked to speak on the morning of November 10, 2011, to the Girl Scout historians and archivists. I can’t wait! I hope many of you will be there and introduce yourselves to me as blog readers.

However, in the interest of time this week, I present you with two great Daisy quotes that did not make the book.

First: to her good sister Eleanor Gordon Parker, who was wading through a very tough time, Daisy wrote compassionately:

“Dearest Nell, Your troubles are simply overwhelming, really all you need are one or two boils to perfectly resemble Job.” (1)

One of the things that struck me overwhelmingly as I researched Daisy Low’s life was her familiarity with the Bible. If you are not quite so familiar, click here or here to learn more about Job and his trials and tribulations and why Daisy’s turn of phrase is so neat.

And second: while in her late teens, squabbling as many young women do with their mothers, Daisy puckishly wrote this about hers:

“Mama seems in excellent spirits.  I can usually gauge the rise and fall of her spirits by her capacity to scold or her depression.  At present she is indefatigable in her powers to correct her children, therefore I argue that the barometer is high.” (2)

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(1) Juliette Gordon Low to Eleanor Gordon Parker, 1 September 1892, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace and National Historic Site.

(2) Juliette Gordon to Mary Gale Carter, September 8, n.y., George Hyde Clarke Family Papers, Cornell University, Undated: JGL, September-October, MS2800/22/4.