Memories... Just for the old?

[SSScout]

Somewhere, in somebody's attic or basement or garage, (I hope)  is a hand carved "Eagle Patrol"  gateway sign. My dad got the cedar plank (he said it would be weather proof) and  a  buddy carved it . As PL, I kept it for awhile.  It was passed on to the next PL, and the next.  We used it for camp entrance, trail ID.  And there was  a hand made Patrol Flag.   I can't imagine anyone involved would throw them away, but you can't tell, ultimately. 

My mom kept all my old school papers, the good and bad.  I had to ultimately decide what to keep, what to recycle.  (Not throw away, recycle.).  They make interesting conversation with my kids.   And I have to decide what of my kids stuff to keep, to reminisce about.  Will Scoutson appreciate that I kept that "A" history essay from 5th grade?   His genetics Science fair entry poster?  I was proud of him for them.   I think when he is much older, he needs to know that. 

 

It is said that no one really dies, so long as there is someone alive that remembers them.  That is why, I guess, we study history: to remember and try to learn from our successes as well as our mistakes.  But then, we have to admit they were mistakes to learn from them.

 

What do the  young owe the old when it comes to remembering?  Valuing of the past?  You young Scouts have more history to make than I do at the moment. Make sure it is history you will want to remember.  

[CalicoPenn]

 

 

What do the  young owe the old when it comes to remembering? 

 

A cure for Alzheimer's?  (Sorry - couldn't resist).

 

 

To answer the question seriously - I had a hard time wrapping my head around the question - I thought it was backwards.  I've always thought it is the old that owe the young when it comes to remembering - to tell and/or write down our stories, to save important pieces of the family history, to pass it down when it became too much, to encourage the young to be interested in history, if even just family or local history.

 

When my family went on trips, my father pulled over for every historical marker - if we passed it by, he made it a point to turn around.  Even if we saw the same marker every year, we stopped at it and read it again.  We visited a lot of local historical society museums, and historic sites.  It was never overwhelming (we never did the 20 civil war battlefields in 9 days kind of trip) but it was always part of it.  To this day, I stop at every historical marker I see - not only do I stop at them, I now make a deliberate effort to find them (many states have nice lists that show what and where their historical markers are - the search has taken me to small towns that I never would have gone to, where I have seen some really interesting things). 

 

Then I thought more about the question and I can answer it with one word:  Curiosity. 

[Cambridgeskip]

I kind of agree with SSScout here.

 

It might be because I'm part of a particularly old troop (105 years and still going!), but I think that each new generation should be encouraged to be part of what is an ongoing story and to try and leave some kind of mark behind, some kind of marker that the generation that follows them can see and understand that there were those who came before them and that there will be those who come along after them.

 

When I was a venture scout the unit had a mascot, a small (about 3 feet high) totem pole called Isaiah (so called because one eye was higher than the other!) that had had various additions put on it. My generation made it a headdress. I'd like to think that a generation following us added something else to it and the story has continued. 

[Tampa Turtle]

Recently I used to be associated with a Troop, one of the oldest in the state (one of those single digits). Had records going back to the early 1920's and the junk room of the old Scout Hut had some amazing stuff from the late 1940's to 1970's. Drums. old flags, spears, you name it.Lots and lots of taxidermy too. 

[Oldscout448]

When scoutson #4 joined troop 1191 his older brothers and I had been gone for 10 years.  I resolved not to bore the "new" scouts or scouters with tales of " back in the days when we were real scouts"

 

I was quite surprised therefore when the scouts while we were sitting round a campfire asked for a story from the dim ages. which to them is anything before 2000.

So I told of the time we pulled out of Tumbling Run Shelter on the A trail and the scout in charge headed north instead of south,  with all the other scouts following him like little ducklings.     The scouters just followed along in back making bets as to how long it would take for some scout to note that the rising sun was on our right and speak up.     It took about three miles.  Then the adults had to prevent a beating.

 

Then they wanted another story,and then another...  until I was running out 

 

It struck me that the reason they were so eager for my tales was not my storytelling skills. It was because it was their history, of their troop not a bunch of dry disconnected dates and facts 

[qwazse]

... called Isaiah (so called because one eye was higher than the other!)...

For the sake of Yanks still wondering what's so funny:

On the west side of the pond, we call that prophet "I zay yah"

On the east side, they call him "I sigh ah".

[Stosh]

I had a friend whose house burned down.  Of course the whole family was shocked, but the one comment made by the mother has always stuck with me over the years.  She said "All those things that reminded me of who I am are gone."  My wife makes fun of me because I tend to be a hoarder.  I have the candy jar of my great aunt that when I visited was always full.  It's sitting with candy my grandchildren enjoy on a shelf not more than 5 feet from where I am right now.  I have "junk" from scouts that tell me of what I have done over the years.  I was out hunting just yesterday and carried my pull rope, skinning knife, water, extra clothes, etc, in a BSA Yucca Pack that had my name and troop number on it.  It was the pack I used in scouting and still use today.  It is but one of many pieces of what most people would call junk, I just know it as those things that tell me who I am and what I have done for those around me and what they have done for me.

 

If that pack wasn't there yesterday, would I have spent the afternoon in the woods thinking about my experiences in scouting while I waited for deer?  Probably not.

[krypton_son]

I had a friend whose house burned down.  Of course the whole family was shocked, but the one comment made by the mother has always stuck with me over the years.  She said "All those things that reminded me of who I am are gone."  My wife makes fun of me because I tend to be a hoarder.  I have the candy jar of my great aunt that when I visited was always full.  It's sitting with candy my grandchildren enjoy on a shelf not more than 5 feet from where I am right now.  I have "junk" from scouts that tell me of what I have done over the years.  I was out hunting just yesterday and carried my pull rope, skinning knife, water, extra clothes, etc, in a BSA Yucca Pack that had my name and troop number on it.  It was the pack I used in scouting and still use today.  It is but one of many pieces of what most people would call junk, I just know it as those things that tell me who I am and what I have done for those around me and what they have done for me.

 

If that pack wasn't there yesterday, would I have spent the afternoon in the woods thinking about my experiences in scouting while I waited for deer?  Probably not.

 

You just described me to a tee.  I have an old basket that was my Grandmother's.  It sat on her coffee table for as long as I can remember.  I used to love to play with it when I was a kid.  It's now sitting on my dresser in my bedroom.  I come from a long line of Scouts.  I have my Grandfathers merit badge sash from when he was in Scouts in the 20's, etc.  I have a lot of family heirlooms and I treasure each one of them.