The very beginning: nylon strings, donkeys, and folk group

As a little girl, I'd listen to my Dad play guitar and sing his favorite songs.  He mostly played to relax at home and to add some fun around the campfire.  I wanted to play too, so he started to teach me the basics.  He  and Mom got me my first guitar when I was six.  It was a classical guitar, small enough for me to hold, and the nylon strings were gentle enough on my little fingers to hold them down.I played that little guitar and learned my first song:"Tingalayo, run my little donkey run; my donkey hee, my donkey haw, my donkey sleep on a bed of straw; my donkey short, my donkey wide, don't get too close to his backside!"Then I wrote my first song, which had the same chords as Tingalayo:"I love my mommy; I love my daddy; I love my mommy, and daddy too! Says you and me to everyone; I love my mommy, and daddy too! ...and God." :) We'd play Christmas Carols at my Grandparents' houses while everyone sang along.  My dad had also started a folk guitar group that led some of the songs in church.  I wanted to play with them too!So he let me.  I continued to learn the basics, with my best friend and her Dad in the group as well.But eventually, the group stopped, and so did I.  My guitar sit there while I stayed involved in dance and sports.  But I still loved to sing.  I got a few opportunities to do so in school and in church.  At one point, a band director came into school with some new instruments to try.  She said I was a natural at the flute, so I begged my mom to let me learn that.  She firmly reminded me that I had a guitar sitting in the den that I never practiced, so would flute be any different?  Probably not.  I started playing it again for a little bit, but then it sat there until high school...