Aging Out - Watching Them Go
| Category: | Aging Out |
|---|---|
| Notes: | Directed at the younger Scouts while an older Scout ages out. Works at the farewell itself or at the next troop meeting after it. Part of a series - see also aging-out-what-im-taking-with-me, aging-out-the-send-off, and aging-out-the-door-stays-open. For a full ceremony, see /ceremonies/aging-out-ceremony. |
I want to talk to the younger Scouts tonight.
Take a good look at the Scout we're saying goodbye to. Most of you have never known this troop without them. They taught some of you to pitch a tent. They found the missing tent stakes. They got the fire going when nobody else could, and they noticed when a new Scout was homesick before anyone said a word.
Here's something nobody tells you when you join: every Scout leaves. Every single one. You'll leave too, someday.
That sounds sad, and maybe it is a little. But it's also how this is supposed to work. Because when an older Scout leaves, a space opens up. All those things they did - teaching the knots, finding the stakes, noticing the homesick kid - that work doesn't disappear. Somebody has to do it now.
Look around. That somebody might be you.
You won't feel ready. Neither did they, the first time. Nobody hands you a badge that says you're ready. You just start doing what needs doing, and one day you realize the younger Scouts are watching you.
So say thank you tonight. Then, at the next campout, keep your eyes open for what needs doing - and do it. That's the best thank-you there is.