I was doing a bit of reminiscing and thought about my son's first year at summer camp.
Two things happened that I want to remember. God willing, he will continue along the trail to become an Eagle and these stories will be invaluable then.
The morning of parent's night, my son called me. I don't remember what he needed now, but he wanted me to bring something that he wanted from home. It should be pointed out here that our troop has a strict "no electronics" policy on camp outs. I assumed that my son was using one of the adult's phones at the time of this call. When I arrived on site, the first person I saw was the scoutmaster. I said hello and then mentioned that my son had called and needed this or that. Mr. G looked quite surprised, but having this information was about all he needed. He later asked my son how he called home and my son, not thinking about implicating someone, just honestly answered that he used T's phone. Mr. G found this boy and had him text other scouts. A whole bunch of phones were confiscated that night. The moral is, if you are going to bring your phone to camp, chances are you will get caught. ;)
My son became slightly addicted to Slurpies while at that camp. The first real time away from home with some spending money and he was spending it on Slurpies! On family night, he asked for a Slurpie and we headed down to the trading post to get one. We headed back to the campsite and after a bit of relaxation, it was time to head to closing ceremonies. My son took his slurpie and set it inside of the tent. His scoutmaster gently reminded him that "food shouldn't be put in your tent because it will attract animals." My son happily replied, "OK! I know! That's N's tent!"
(My son is a little TOO literal)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
February 28, 2012 Chardon, Ohio
From a Parents Perspective.
I logged onto facebook this morning and one of the status updates that I read said: "Oh dear God, not Chardon High!!!!"
My heart sunk, because although my son attends a different school, many of the young men from his scout troop
go to that school. I turned on the tv and replied to my friend's update asking what was going on. She of course responded with
the news of the shooting. I texted our scout master and started dialing the parents of the scouts. I coundn't get a hold of anyone.
I decided that I couldn't sit at home any longer, so I headed up to the school.
Once there, I parked at St, Mary Chardon. It is my parish away from home since it is where the scout troop is based. I ran across
the street to the middle school where parents had been told to pick up their students. People were standing around, just waiting.
Over and over, I heard people say, "This is Chardon. This is the country. I moved here so this wouldn't happen." I saw a few of the
parents that I knew and was glad to give hugs and offer words of support. By now, another parent had made contact with most
of the troop and we knew that "our boys" were all safe. We also have a parent who teaches in the school, and he was safe as well.
At some point, parents were then instructed to go over to Maple Elementary. They allowed us to walk through the Chardon High School
field to cross over to the elementary school. While parents were waiting, there was some normal chatter. I glanced back at the high school
and students started filing out. They were instructed to get in a line and file into Maple. The parents were moved to another line.
The students were chatting and it seemed almost surreal.. as if nothing had happened. Kids were laughing and on their phones and
parents were waving and obviously relieved to see their child. It took about 20 minutes, when silence sort of fell over the crowd. Then
for a while, it was strangely calm and quiet. As parents were reunited with students, and started exiting the elementary school, that's when
the reality might have begun to set in. There were hugs and tears and lots of emotion.
At this point was when some of the rumors really started to fly. I heard things about twitter. I heard things about the shooter being bullied.
I heard things about fights being rampant at the school lately. I heard things about drugs. And it hit me.
It. doesn't. matter.
None of it.
What matters most is how to move forward from this. It is going to take a long time. Some kids are going to be angry, some are going to be scared,
some scared and some are going to be ok. Even students from other schools are going to experience feelings. We as adults are going to have to
be caretakers AND remember to take care of ourselves. We are allowed to be afraid and sad too. 3 young men have lost their lives. More than 3
families have been ripped apart in what we feel is senseless violence.
We need to give it time.... it will stay with us for a long time. I am blessed to be able to work with a group of great young men. We will get by. We will survive.
I logged onto facebook this morning and one of the status updates that I read said: "Oh dear God, not Chardon High!!!!"
My heart sunk, because although my son attends a different school, many of the young men from his scout troop
go to that school. I turned on the tv and replied to my friend's update asking what was going on. She of course responded with
the news of the shooting. I texted our scout master and started dialing the parents of the scouts. I coundn't get a hold of anyone.
I decided that I couldn't sit at home any longer, so I headed up to the school.
Once there, I parked at St, Mary Chardon. It is my parish away from home since it is where the scout troop is based. I ran across
the street to the middle school where parents had been told to pick up their students. People were standing around, just waiting.
Over and over, I heard people say, "This is Chardon. This is the country. I moved here so this wouldn't happen." I saw a few of the
parents that I knew and was glad to give hugs and offer words of support. By now, another parent had made contact with most
of the troop and we knew that "our boys" were all safe. We also have a parent who teaches in the school, and he was safe as well.
At some point, parents were then instructed to go over to Maple Elementary. They allowed us to walk through the Chardon High School
field to cross over to the elementary school. While parents were waiting, there was some normal chatter. I glanced back at the high school
and students started filing out. They were instructed to get in a line and file into Maple. The parents were moved to another line.
The students were chatting and it seemed almost surreal.. as if nothing had happened. Kids were laughing and on their phones and
parents were waving and obviously relieved to see their child. It took about 20 minutes, when silence sort of fell over the crowd. Then
for a while, it was strangely calm and quiet. As parents were reunited with students, and started exiting the elementary school, that's when
the reality might have begun to set in. There were hugs and tears and lots of emotion.
At this point was when some of the rumors really started to fly. I heard things about twitter. I heard things about the shooter being bullied.
I heard things about fights being rampant at the school lately. I heard things about drugs. And it hit me.
It. doesn't. matter.
None of it.
What matters most is how to move forward from this. It is going to take a long time. Some kids are going to be angry, some are going to be scared,
some scared and some are going to be ok. Even students from other schools are going to experience feelings. We as adults are going to have to
be caretakers AND remember to take care of ourselves. We are allowed to be afraid and sad too. 3 young men have lost their lives. More than 3
families have been ripped apart in what we feel is senseless violence.
We need to give it time.... it will stay with us for a long time. I am blessed to be able to work with a group of great young men. We will get by. We will survive.
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