Accolades for an Eagle
Atlanta, GA
November 29, 2022
I have many reasons to be proud of both my sons. As his eighteenth birthday approaches, my younger one gives me another.
A couple years ago, I commended David on his Confirmation. Now he’s on the verge of becoming an Eagle Scout. Few are more deserving.
For a half dozen years, he’s compiled merit badges, led service projects, learned a catalogue of skills, and nurtured the natural leader he’s always been. A few weeks ago, he led several scouts as he organized, orchestrated, and completed a significant service project for a local church.
And he did almost all of this without the usual assistance a scout receives from his father. For years, I was often out-of-town on business, or sitting at home or at a nearby coffee shop, “too tired” to attend weekly meetings. To my retrospective embarrassment, everlasting shame, and eternal regret, I joined only a couple camping trips, and hardly participated in any of the activities by which David earned his abundant badges.
That’s an irretrievable loss to the father. But it didn’t stop the son. He had a goal for himself, and an obligation to his troop. When David assumes responsibility, he fulfills it. And that is what he’s done…by himself.
Yet David doesn’t warrant attaining Eagle merely for completing the minimum requirements. As with so much in his life, this accomplishment is more about what he’s done for others than what it means to him. I only wish that at the time he was doing it, it’d meant as much to me as it should have, and as it does now.
Whether at church, school, home, or troop, David has always sought ways to help friends, family, or strangers. Personal success has always seemed incidental, like a singer surprised he’d receive applause after performing an aria. He never thought how far his voice carried, how it affected the audience, or moved it to action.
David’s desire, diligence, and demeanor are irresistible, and infectious. His determination to learn, develop, and get things done inspires those around him to want to do more, and to do it as well as he did…or at least as well as they can.
But in his mind, anything he’s done has never been enough. Like trodding the Oregon Trail after the canal had been built, David never takes the easy way. He was eligible for Advance Placement classes in High School, and chose to take them.
But, despite not knowing the language, he decided to do so in Spanish. When his parents suggested he revert to the standard curriculum in his native tongue, David refused. He’d started his immersion program, and he’d finish it. And in a few months, he will.
Thru middle school and into high school, he simultaneously played piano, won at chess, excelled in golf, and starred in baseball. After several years being one of the most impressive players on his basketball team, he decided this year to coach younger kids who wanted to learn the game. It’s typical that David wouldn’t want to hoard what he knows.
For David, sharing has always been an ingrained inclination. Habits start as cobwebs, and become steel chains. They can strengthen, or constrain. David, to become an Eagle Scout, has fired his internal furnace to forge formidable routines.
Every decision we make today is a trade with our future self. Based on the choices he’s made, the man he’ll become will thank the Scout he once was. I couldn’t be more proud of my son, nor more convinced that he deserves the accolade of becoming an Eagle Scout.
JD
