CGIT

Ahoy!

/ edebock / 2 Comments

LogoFor as long as I can remember, I’ve been fond of nautically inspired clothing. It probably goes back to my very early childhood spent on the coast of British Columbia where it wasn’t at all unusual to see sailors walking the streets in uniform. On leave from ships from around the world, they always seemed to be having such a good time.

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As a teenager, I was proud to wear my CGIT (Canadian Girls in Training) uniform which was clearly modelled after sailors’ attire. For those of you who aren’t familiar with CGIT, it’s a non-denominational Christian organization for girls in grades 7-12. Since 1915, it has provided girls with an opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills, self care, and social responsibility. As our purpose stated, it taught us to “cherish health, seek truth, know God, and serve others.” Perhaps this also influenced my fondness for the nautical look.

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Even my children were subjected to my love of sailor suits! Here are my oldest two in matching outfits that I made for them a very long time ago.

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I suppose it’s no wonder, then, that one of my favourite items in cabi’s Fall 2017 Collection is the Regiment Pullover.

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Reminiscent of the French sailors in their Breton stripes, the Regiment Pullover is a lightweight navy crewneck, featuring panels of sheer fabric down each side and under the arms. Thin horizontal stripes of light gray frame the side panels to create a flattering, slimming look. Here I’m wearing it with my anchor pendant from Nova Scotia’s Amos Pewter.

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Awakening memories

/ edebock / 4 Comments

Ever since we began our journey through Alzheimer’s disease with my mom, memory and how it works has been of greater interest to me than ever before. There are certain triggers that I know will awaken some of my earliest memories. The smell of Ivory soap always takes me back to my grandmother’s bathroom. Though almost 50 years have passed, I remember it in amazing detail… the old clawfoot tub, the washboard, the bare wooden walls, the violets growing in pots on the windowsill, the old-fashioned curling irons hanging on the back of the door.

Other times I’m completely amazed by something that suddenly comes to the surface of my memory. That’s what happened yesterday in the middle of a funeral! Knowing that she was dying, the lady who’s funeral I was attending had written down some of her own memories and they were shared during the service. She mentioned attending CGIT as a teenager. I, too, was a Canadian Girl in Training but I hadn’t thought about that in years. Instantly the entire CGIT purpose, recited at every weekly meeting for the five years that I participated in the non-denominational program for 12 to 17 year old girls, came back to me. Obviously it was firmly cemented in the deepest recesses of my memory.

As a Canadian Girl in Training
Under the leadership of Jesus
It is my purpose to
Cherish Health
Seek Truth
Know God
Serve Others
And thus, with His help,
Become the girl God would have me be.

I could hardly believe that it was still there in it’s entirety. Though my CGIT pin is still in the bottom of my jewelry box, I attended my last meeting in 1969! This really makes me wonder what else is still hidden deep within my mind and what it would take to access all of it.

Remembering the CGIT purpose has also caused me to do a bit of self evaluation today. Looking back at what I recited so faithfully all those years ago, how have I done? Did I go on to cherish health, seek truth, know God and serve others? I think I can answer with a resounding yes! Those four goals could still be my mission statement today. Does that mean that I’ve become the girl God would have me be? I’d like to think so but I know that I’m still a work in progress!