The Eagle Prepares To Fly

Last night I went to my first ever Eagle Court of Honor ceremony for "Mijo", one of the Cub Scout/Webelo's from Pack 733 at Kramer Elementary. A moving ceremony for a great kid, who between his grades and athletics will be headed off to some wonderful university (that has a LaCrosse team) next fall. His Eagle project consisted of constructing four training tables for Hillcrest High School, which we put to good use this football season alone. Wow, what a spread of food; quesadillas, flautas, guacamole, somebody went to a great deal of work to prepare a delicious buffet.

The ceremony followed a menu of tradition that typifies scouting - Call to Order, Presentation of Colors, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Scouting Oath. While formal, it serves a purpose of signifying the elevation of one's station through achievement. There was an invocation by Father Etheridge of St. Luke's, and several scoutmasters came forward to speak for "Mijo" and his hard work. Then it was time for his remarks.

I was not prepared for his honest expression of how very hard it had been to make this climb, how growing up in a single parent (grandmother) family with younger siblings had undermined his belief in his abilities. How every other Webelo from his pack gradually dropped scouting, which seemed like a good idea to him at the time because he didn't want to be alone in the group. But people came to him, encouraged him to stick with it, see it through, kept reminding him that he COULD do this. Some even welcomed him into their own families and helped him see a future beyond his life now. I was not the only one unable to stop crying.

I was prepared for him to fly, even at a young age he understood honor; he honored his family by his achievements and he honored the time many have spent with him by completing his scouting endeavor.