Brother

This past weekend was the Ordeal for Order of the Arrow at the Scout camp near our house. Delaney was nominated in his troop last year and had his ordeal in April, 2011. It’s a weekend where the kids work for a day, taking a vow of silence for 24 hours, and they sleep out under the stars, with no tent. Delaney got through it fine, even with a light snow that night. Once you go through that, you’re a brotherhood candidate. After 10 months, being active in OA, you have the chance to become a full brother.

A few weeks ago I asked Delaney if he wanted to go to this weekend and he did, so he registered and expected to be in charge of other kids that were on their ordeal. I dropped him off with his pack, a sleeping bag, and a tarp (no tent) on Friday. He registered, verified dues were paid, and found out that he wasn’t in charge of kids since they had enough, but

He called us Fri night, having flashlight issues. One of the leaders helped him and got replacement batteries, and things were fine. I got a call from him Saturday morning that he’d be done Saturday night, and it was an easy day. I drove down there and found him waiting with all his stuff on Saturday night, his new Brotherhood sash (with the horizontal stripes).

He was smiling and had a good time. I know because as we drove away, he asked if he could go to the next event, and participate as a staff member in September. It’s cool to see him excited at moving forward.

I reminded him that he should be proud. Each step here moves him into more rare company. I saw a note that only about 8% of kids move into Order of the Arrow, and a smaller percentage of those get their brotherhood. Less than 50% of the kids that were in his nominated group have gotten their brotherhood achievement.

Afterwards, he enjoyed a little dinner.