ADDIE’S ANGELS - Clue #3

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The Sisterhood of The Travelling Rocks

Our WISH Team, named Addie’s Angels (Remember Charlie’s Angels?), chose the theme FRIENDSHIP for our rock collection. We wanted our rocks to reflect the importance and positive impact of female friendships in our lives, the special bonds and relationships that exist between women, and our desire to empower, inspire and support other women.

We decided to ‘venture out under the skies so blue’ on a beautiful spring morning to find our special rocks and we went for a hike along the bank of the Grand River. This heritage river runs through the village of Glen Morris which is our home community. We chose this location for our rock hunt because we all live very close to the river and appreciate its presence and beauty every day in every season.

We celebrated the first day of summer by getting together for a ‘paint by poolside’ party at a team member’s lovely rural property just outside of Glen Morris. Addie’s Angels responded to the Clue #3 challenge with our ‘weapon’ of choice’ - acrylic paint. As we created our Friendship Rock Garden, we encouraged and supported each other’s efforts and we were all proud of our results. Our time was filled with heart to heart conversation, laughter, hugs, plus a few tears, and even though it was an extremely hot day we all felt ‘chilled out’ at the end of our painting activity.

Yellow flowers, despite the kind, are universally considered to be a symbol of friendship. Therefore, we each chose a yellow flower to represent our theme and painted it on a blue background for the sky. We did a little research on the ‘The Language of Flowers’ to learn the meanings of different yellow flowers. On our rock we printed words for what our own flower symbolizes. On the underneath side of the rock, we printed Glen Morris, Ontario, 2022. We decided to have our rocks show only blue and yellow/gold as these are the two colours the Federated Women’s Institute of Canada uses on the WI motto FOR HOME AND COUNTRY. Since the WISH activities are a part of the Women’s Institute Quasquicentennial celebrations, we wanted our rocks in some way to reflect a celebratory nod to this Sisterhood and its 125th anniversary.
We are each giving our Friendship Rock to a significant female in our life.

Here are our own personal stories:

(Karen) I chose to give my painted rock to my youngest daughter who has been making major life decisions on her career direction. How perfect then that my chosen flower, the daffodil, is the official flower of her birth month of March! As one of the first flowers of spring, this yellow flower symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings. The daffodil also represents inspiration, forgiveness, and creativity. Travelling to Calgary soon to see her, I’m looking forward to ‘hiding’ my painted rock for her. As she discovers the rock, she will see the words rebirth, creativity and inspiration written on its surface, which were designed to support her in her journey.

(Lyanne) Goldenrod symbolizes encouragement and support. I have picked this flower specifically for a friend whose husband died last year from pancreatic cancer at what I consider a young age. A year later my friend is still struggling with her husband’s death. I wish for her to know that I am there to encourage and support her as she still grieves. When she feels better she can pass the rock onto someone who may also need encouragement and support.

(Margaret) Most commonly known as the “friendship flower”, the yellow rose has symbolized friendship for over a hundred years. Its meanings include both eternal friendship and new beginnings, plus trust, and loyalty. I am giving my Friendship Rock to my old best friend/new best friend. We became friends in high school and years later drifted apart due to various changes in our lives. During the COVID pandemic, we reconnected on Facebook and although many years had passed without seeing one another, we are now closer than ever. I put the word friendship on my rock, along with the words trust and loyalty because those are the values we cherish the most in our friendship.

(Ronna) I have painted my rock with a yellow hibiscus and three words that it symbolizes - friendship, positivity and beauty. I have chosen to give this to my lifelong friend Linda. She and I have shared a very close bond since childhood and our friendship continues to grow as we head towards our senior years. The yellow hibiscus reminds me of Linda as she is like a beautiful ray of sunshine, full of positivity and support to all those around her. Her elegance shines bright as she strives to lift up others around her, regardless of what is going on in her personal life. I share my rock with my best friend Linda to bring her positivity, friendship, love and good luck. I hope it will lift her spirits the way she has lifted others. I will hide this friendship rock at Linda’s cottage. This is her happy place that brings her peace and tranquility and allows her to rejuvenate. Reflecting on the day that our Addie’s Angels gathered to paint our rocks, I was feeling very overwhelmed and overloaded with too much on my plate. The same words my yellow hibiscus symbolizes, our team represents. Within a few short hours of being encircled by this supportive and positive group of friends, I was gratefully feeling relaxed, empowered, and in a much happier frame of mind. Friendship between women is such a very important part of growing older!

Our submission’s title, ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Rocks’, was inspired by a popular 2001 book by Ann Brashares. Entitled, ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants’, it is a story of four girls who are best friends and over the summer they share a pair of thrift-store jeans. The story follows their individual adventures and focuses on the importance of friendship and unique bonds that females develop with one another. Even when the girls are apart, they are connected by the pants that are a symbol of their friendship and support for one another. The same can be said of our Friendship Rocks.

When we hide our Friendship Rock for our person to find, we will also leave a card that has a short background story of the WISH activity, WI’s 125th anniversary and information about the Women’s Institute, including websites. We thought this was a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness of WI. There is also a request for the recipient to enjoy the gift for whatever amount of time desired but to consider passing the rock and information card on at some point to another woman who is important to them based on the symbolism and meanings of the flower. Like the ‘pay it forward’ concept for deeds of kindness but our version is for friendship! Thus, the journey of our rocks will continue and maybe some of the women along the way will become WI members! Hopefully over time many women will enjoy participating in ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Rocks’ and benefit from the experiences of receiving from one friend and then giving to another.

Who knows where our Friendship Rocks from Glen Morris, Ontario will travel and end up!

We had the perfect setting for our team photo! Addie’s Angels with our Friendship Rocks in Ronna’s beautiful flower and rock garden. (l-r) Margaret McPherson, Ronna Hoogstraten, Karen Murray-Hopf, Lyanne Lynch (June 21st, 2022)

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