Give Thanks...For The Boy Scouts

 Last week my wife and I had to get some printing done. You know, for the wedding. They took our order and we waited for them to finish, so I went on a little tour of the print shop. Interesting place. In addition to printers, they had shipping boxes, packing material, tape, and other things you would expect to find in a business that caters to shipping needs.

There was something else in the store, something that used to be such a normal part of my life--of the lives of so many--that now is almost non-existent.

They had Boy Scouts of America supplies.

It was so odd to me, I snapped a couple of pictures.

As a boy growing up in Utah, Boy Scouts of America was everywhere. It was as big a part of my life as was church, sometimes bigger. We started in the cub scouts, then graduated to the big leagues. Every week we had pack meeting, every summer we had scout camp. All my friends were in scouts, my mom was a den leader. Scouting was so ingrained in our culture.

And then, it wasn't.

Yes, scouting has not disappeared completely, but from what I understand, it's a shell of its former self. Add to the fact that we no longer have children of scouting age, I don't even know if there's a local group in our area.

The sad part is, I enjoyed (mostly...) my time in scouting. When done correctly, scouting teaches life-long lessons and values I still try and incorporate today, decades later.  I'm grateful for the leaders and parents who sacrificed so much so their children could learn those values and lessons. Which makes the downfall so painful.

Seeing the books and posters in the store brought it back, brought back the memories--the good and the not-so-good. It made me remember just how big a program it was, and how much it's missed.