Found a Picture of me.

I found a picture of myself in a Boy Scout uniform and does that bring back memories.
My Dad always hated the Boy Scouts and called them a group of crooked politician's and would not let me think of joining a scout troop. At age twelve most of my buddies were scouts and I was left out of all the fun. Our local troop had meetings at a church on Mondays. I started hanging around the church each week just to see what it was all about.

One evening the Scout Master invited me into the meeting hall to watch the proceedings. Afterwards he had a long talk with me and I joined the troop. Each meeting night I made some excuse to be gone from the house and away I went to the church. Everything about the scouts appealed to me, the discipline was great and the different training programs were just what I needed. One scout leader gave me special attention and I soon earned several merit badges. I even had a membership card I carried on my person all the time.

One evening as mom was getting ready to wash some clothes she found my membership card in my pants pocket. Mom read the card and said,” Bobby what the heck are you doing, you know your dad will throw a fit if he finds out.” I told mom the whole story and she understood how much this meant to me so she said,"OK Bobby, but you have to keep this to yourself until dad finds out and he will.”

Another month went buy and then one-day dad came in from work and was he ever mad. “Who gave you permission to join that dam boy scout organization, you know I hate them and I want you to quit as of now.”
Well I cried as mom and dad got into a big argument and he finally walked out of the house and we didn’t see him for two days. Whenever dad got mad he would leave and be gone for as long as a week and that always hurt me more. As hard as it was I made up my mind to quit the scouts rather than cause so much trouble in the house. Well finally dad came home and he had a complete scout’s uniform including a hat and a bugle. Dad said,"
If you are going to be a Boy Scout then I want you to look like one.”

I never did find out where he got the uniform or what changed his mind but after that he was very supportive of me and helped me win a couple more badges. At the next meeting I was the best-dressed scout in the troop and several weeks later on Memorial Day all the local scout troops marched in a downtown parade. As we were getting lined up to start the parade the troop leader came to me and said he wanted me lead off the parade carrying a flag. I was chosen because I had the best uniform. My Mom and Dad waited along the parade path and as I marched past I could hear my Dad holler “That’s my boy” Yes it’s great to look at old pictures and relive my memories.