Renewing my Promise

Tonight my daughter and my granddaughter and I took part in a Lantern Walk with over 100 other Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Rangers and Leaders.
We sang several songs and at 20.10 20/10 2010 we made and renewed our promise. I didn't expect to be quite as moved by this as I was.
I go to help with my daughter's unit occasionally but haven't really had much to do with the movement for several years. I had recently decided that I would join the Trefoil Guild just to keep in contact.
Actually this decision was a direct result of being told that the woman who was District Commissioner of the place where I was Guider is no longer a member. She upset me so much all those years ago that I would never be in any organisation that she was a member of. She spoilt Guiding for me and even after we moved here it was still the same county so she was still within striking distance.
I was going to say that what she did was a small thing but it wasn't it was huge and nasty and ... well it was spiteful. I was Guide Leader for two Guide companies, there were more than 40 girls in them and we had two Brownie Packs feeding into the guides. I was divorced, and had been for several years and during the course of the summer I met a man and fell in love. My children asked if we could all live together so we found a home for us all and when Guides restarted after the summer holidays I had a phone call from the District Commissioner who told me that as I was living in sin I could not continue to be a Guide Leader, effective immediately.
Yes I was upset, but I took what she said as gospel. I just didn't think she would tell me something that wasn't true.
It was not until Mr M and I were married a year later and I asked if I could go back as an assistant guider and she told me that as I had resigned I could not go back. This was when I quaght the first whiff of rodent.
I then contacted the division Commissioner who told me that living with someone I wasn't married to was not a reason to stop being a guide leader and she had been surprised when I resigned because she had thought I enjoyed being a Guider. I explained what had happened. She had a word with the District Commissioner who said that I was lying, I had resigned, that I never liked her and was trying to get her into trouble. The Div. Commissioner immediately backed off and said it was purely a district thing and we should sort it out. I knew then that it was hopeless to try and go against her and then we moved away from that district but by that time she was involved at county level so I stayed away.
Tonight was really good. I enjoyed being a part of the family of Guiding again. Seeing the girls from my daughter's unit being a part of it as they start out on their Guiding careers was marvellous and haveing my granddaughter there as a Rainbow was very special.