The Eagle has indeed landed

WOW. What an incredible day we had yesterday as our son had his Eagle Court of Honor. This was the culmination of not just months of hard work, but really years of hard work. He had asked four people to speak that meant a lot to him:
JM: His former cubmaster from his cub scout pack (coincidentally now the mother of his girlfriend)
She gave a beautiful speech about how she had "met" him in different stages of life: Our kids had been together in preschool, then later on in Scouts, and now currently as her daughter's boyfriend. It was so sweet and poignant.
DR: His 6th grade teacher, whom my son still thinks of as his all-time "favorite teacher". His speech was amazing, it brought tears to my eyes. OK, full disclosure: I started crying at the invocation earlier.
Then I and DH spoke: more tears. We had been sitting in the front row and when we were on the podium we faced the audience for the first time and were astounded at how big the crowd was, a testament to my son's far-reaching effect on people, our loved ones, family, and the scouts.
RK: Not only a family friend of longstanding, some thirty years, but he works with the Scouts, so that was extra-special. He also mentioned in his speech, DH's dad and my dad, who are both gone now, but our son is named for them both. It was a beautiful speech,
MG: DH's eldest son, who is also an Eagle Scout; what made it so awesome is the fact he became an Eagle in this very troop in 1989. Honestly his speech was so heartfelt and he made mention of the fact that no matter were he lived, he always brought his Eagle medal. He also said that when people say to him "So, you were an Eagle Scout?" He replies, "No sir, I AM an Eagle Scout" Once an Eagle, always an Eagle!
Then, our son spoke. He made reference to the fact that when he was looking for a Boy Scout troop (as a Cub Scout, when they near completion, you go visit different troops to look for a good fit) he was almost swayed by a large troop that had a lot of amenities going for it, but when he realized his brother's troop was still active (after almost 60 years I'm told!) well, that sealed the deal.
I cannot possibly put into words what this day meant to DH and me. I cannot believe that 2 months ago, DH had his stroke and honestly, I was so fearful he would not see this day. Yet, here he was, greeting people, shaking hands, hugging people. That alone was worth the price of admission: To see my sweet DH healthy and standing with our son on this momentous day.
So many many friends and family helped out for the ceremony. It's amazing the amount of work it takes to set this all up. I am so grateful. From setting up tables/food. etc to taking it all down and cleaning up, there is no way we could have done this on our own (or I suppose we could have, if we had started last month :-) I cannot put into words what you all mean to me. RWG


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Scout_(Boy_Scouts_of_America)