OK, not that Sam the Eagle (although he is also exceptionally cool)...
Today my brother-in-law, Sam, got his Eagle Scout Award. It exhausts me just imagining what effort it will take to get Andrew and Zack to that point in their lives. Sam is such a hard worker, an amazing athlete, a great leader, wonderful student, and of course fun uncle to my kids. I am grateful for the example that he sets for my kids. It is crazy to think that he was younger than Maddie and not much older than Andrew when I first met him. He has said many funny things to me over the years, most of which he has probably forgotten, but I have not. I am saving the real gems for his wedding breakfast...
Still I will tell you one of my all time favorites. When Sam was eight, I asked him to keep an eye on new baby Maddie so I could take a shower. For some reason, Sam, Maddie, and I were the only ones home at the time. He said, "Uhhh.... I don't know if I can, I'm just not good with infants." I advised him to just keep the cats off her. His future wife will be so proud to know that he was actually better with infants than he thought, because even though he was playing a video game the entire time, Maddie lived.
Later that day he explained to me the progression of life, which was surprisingly insightful and also quite lengthy:
"First, you are a newborn. Then, you are an infant. Then you are a baby. Then you are a toddler. Then you are child. Then you are a pre-teen. Then you are a teenager. Then you are a young adult. Then you are an adult. Then you are middle aged. Then you are approaching the hill. Then you are over the hill. Then you're old, which is still better than being dead..."
Sam, congratulations on earning your Eagle! As your dad would say, "Amazing...but not surprising!"
5 comments:
Wow Allie, it seems like you just came and went too fast. I'm sorry Maddie took a wild ride with Grandma to Park City via Marges, but a least it meant we saw all of you! I love all the pictures, and think David looks like the worlds best Grandfather. Happy springtime! Its snowing here...
He looks so much like Ben! Congrats Sam!
We need some Disneyworld advise. I hear you are the master.
I love that he called Maddie an infant! How educated.
Sam looks so old!!! Congratulations Sam! Those Burton's sure know how to raise great kids!
I love you! I think you are the funniest person ever. I so sorry about your relaxing vacation that ended up with your kids, a funeral (which is never good), and a dirty house confirming all our worst fears that we(wives) are really the only ones that clean the house. We all knew it though its just hard to get out minds wrapped around the thought. Since we are sure when we met our spouse and they said they would do anything for us we thought we were going to be taken care of, but maybe they were just imagining us taken care of them... Thought to ponder on.
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