V is for Victory

April 27, 2012

Every year, our Boy Scout Troop performs the flag ceremony at our local Relay for Life event.  After the pledge and the National Anthem, the Scouts lead the "Victory" lap for the cancer survivors and their caregivers.

On this first lap, the survivors head out in one direction following our Scouts and the caregivers head out in the opposite direction until they meet in the middle.  All of the attendees gather around the track and cheer "victoriously" for these brave survivors.

Last night, the Relay for Life committee chose a "Prince" to honor.  This 12 1/2 year old boy has been in the fight for his life over the last year since his brain surgery.  After the surgery, he was unresponsive for over a week and withered away to 50 some pounds.  It was such a joy to see him there with a big smile and weighing in at over 60 lbs.  What a "Victory"!!

E is for Eagle

Our three sons are Boy Scouts, one is an Eagle Scout, one wears the Life rank and one the Star rank.  The younger two are well on their way to becoming Eagle Scouts.  Scouting is a family affair around here,  My husband and I have been involved in leadership since 1998, when our oldest son joined Cub Scouts as a Tiger Cub.  It all began innocently enough when all of the parents of the boys who signed up that night sat around the table and had to figure out who would lead those boys.  To my surprise, my husband volunteered his services.  Of course, it sounded like it would be a lot of fun, but wait a minute...  I was 7 months pregnant and had an 18 month old running around the house.

Remember the other day when I told you my husband was in the military and he wasn't always around?  Guess who became his back-up, his assistant, his everything?  Eventually, we figured out a way that worked best for us, I would do all of the "planning" and he would "execute" the plan (if he was in town, otherwise I would fill in) - and 14 years later we are still working that plan!  He is the Scoutmaster and I am the Committee Chairman to a Troop of over 20 boys.  We have been right alongside each of our boys as they have progressed in rank and as we progressed as leaders.  I have been a Committee Chairman since 2003 and it can be a full-time job sometimes;  I have been trying to find a replacement for awhile now, but to no avail.

Obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout is no small feat and of the 100 million boys who have joined Boy Scouts over the last 102 years only 2 million have attained the rank of Eagle.  With the leadership skills they develop and the expectation that Eagle Scouts will become leaders in life, it is no wonder that you will easily recognize some of the recipients of the Eagle rank (i.e. Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates, Sam Walton).

Not only have we watched our boys grow up in Scouting, but their friends as well.  Our oldest son became an Eagle Scout in 2010, but so far this year we have had the privilege to assist, in some capacity, three young men pin on the rank of Eagle Scout.  Our Troop will have two more by the beginning of the Summer plus one of our sons by the end of the year, and if a certain young man (who shall remain nameless) can pull it all together we will have produced seven Eagle Scouts this year.   It is an incredible feeling of pride to have watched these boys work through the requirements of no less than 21 merit badges, learn leadership skills, and execute their Eagle service project.  We are dubbing this year, the "Year of the Eagle"!!