A follow-up to Steven Davis’ thoughts from the October Mountain Echo.
As Steven so well described, “Scouting matters.” It matters to each of us for different reasons, and we all have our own stories to tell. Reflecting on these stories can help us remain involved in Scouting over time and/or help us later on to reconnect in Scouting as alumni.
I once was asked during a Commissioner meeting to describe what Scouting had done for me. I think it was an attempt to help me to reflect on why Scouting mattered to me. At the time, I was a fledgling Unit Commissioner, and obviously had not been a Boy Scout as a youth. My sons were still young Scouts and I could already see what Scouting was doing for them in terms of their character and leadership development. But other than the interesting opportunities provided to me for donating my time as a Scout Mom, I was really perplexed about the question of what Scouting had done for me. That meeting ran late into the night, and I went straight to bed when I got home after I checked on my sleeping family. As I drifted off to sleep next to my snoring husband, I realized that I had my answer right there beside me.
Like many little girls, I dreamed of being a bride someday so that I could wear a beautiful long white dress. I repeatedly pestered my mother with the question of how would I know when I wanted to marry someone (it was all about that dress). She usually would tell me that I would somehow just know and that would be the end of the conversation until the next time I asked. Eventually, she said that I would know because it would be a person who I knew that I could trust. I don’t remember ever asking her again, but Mom was right.
During college several years later, an Eagle Scout landed in my life and I realized that he was different from other people I had ever known. Forty five years ago, while wearing a beautiful long white dress, I married him because, among many reasons, I knew that I could trust him. Scouting had helped to develop a young man who I wanted to share the rest of my life with.
Scouting definitely matters. Why does Scouting matter to you?
~Sue Rhodes