Old Scouts - Young Scouts

I’ve hung in there long enough to enjoy watching some of my old Scouts grow up and journey far into adulthood.

Scouts from my first few years as Scoutmaster are now approaching forty years of age (!) and have families of their own. My own son will be getting married in a few weeks and it all seems like an impossibly short time has passed since we were all camping together. My wife and I go to weddings, get birth announcements and otherwise take note of various milestones in the lives of our old Scouts. We are deeply appreciative and touched to be a continuing part of their lives.

Sometimes I feel incredibly old and irrelevant. But soon I am back with my young Scouts watching them pass through the familiar experiences of life as an eleven to seventeen-year old. The first camping trip, the first week away from home, that year where they seem to grow an inch every month, watching as they discover greater confidence and skill. All of this make me feel much younger and relevant.