Obviously, like any parent should be, I'm proud of my son. Last year was a big year for him in scouting; he began planning and working on his Eagle project early in the year and had his Eagle Ceremony in December.
Samuel planned every moment of the ceremony, with the only exception of what I wanted to say, and my introduction of him. Here's what I had to say (with some minor edits to make it work for a weblog).
I remember reading Boys’ Life Magazine when I was a Cub Scout. I would read those articles about older boys that did great things, and about boys that became Eagle Scouts. I knew, even at a young age, that I could never do those things. I could barely swim. I couldn’t remember any knots or what they were for (still can’t). I’m not sure where my focus was then, but if we could draw a Venn diagram of my interests I’m pretty confident scouting would have been on a separate sheet of paper.
Even still, I often thought of those boys in the magazine. I didn’t know them, but I knew they were special. Even now, I think of those boys from time to time and wonder what became of them. They were real life heroes - not like heroes on television or in a comic book, but honest to goodness real life heroes that did good things and helped other people.
I remember going to a scouting event once where there were other packs and troops. I saw boys in American Indian regalia, and I remember thinking it was awesome - and maybe just a bit scary. I was impressed (or perhaps intimidated). Those boys seemed really special in my young eyes.
Now here we are - forty some odd years later. I read Boys’ Life online these days. I still see stories of boys achieving things which I could barely even dream. Those boys are still heroes - real heroes doing good things.
I still admire, what I’ve since learned is, the Order of the Arrow - a Brotherhood of Cheerful Service. These boys are truly the best of the best. Someone said recently - describing these boys that they were like “Maverick and Goose” from the movie Top Gun. I’d say that’s a pretty good analogy.
As his dad, it’s my wish that he’ll always, on his honor, do his best to do his duty to God and his country and to obey the scout law; to help other people at all times; and to keep himself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Samuel Pankey is: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
Never once did we have the conversation about “sticking with it”. His desire to be in scouting has been obvious since he was a Tiger. He wanted this. His mom and I did everything we could to make sure he had this opportunity. We might have nudged him a bit here and there, but the work he did was his own - it had to be that way. We wanted him to be able to look back and see what he could accomplish. We wanted him to be able to say “I earned this.”
My son, an Eagle Scout - a real life hero doing good things.
