He did it! My 17 year old brother, Michael, put in all of the hard work and dedication necessary to earn his Eagle Scout badge.

So I loaded up Luke and Melanie, along with Wexler baby 1 3/4 (who seems to go with us everywhere now), and flew the friendly JetBlue skies down to my native town: the redneck paradise of Ocala, Florida.

It was great to see all of my family again. In addition to my Mom and Michael, my middle brother, Stephen, and his wife, Lisa, still live in Ocala as well. Joining us from MA was my Aunt Susan.

What a cool thing the Eagle Scout award is. I’ve heard of it, but I never realized what a big achievement it really is. Seems like everyone in the local, state, and national government was lining up to congratulate Michael. He received letters and certificates from the current and past Presidents’ Bush, congressman, and government agencies like the FBI and USDA, the armed forces, etc. There was a full album of them by the time I arrived. At the official ceremony, which took place at Grace Presbyterian Church, there were representatives from the city government, city police, sherrif’s department, fire department, school board and a few local civic clubs, all of whom spoke their congratulations and give Michael more plaques, certificates, proclamations, and awards. By the end of all of the celebration, I’ll bet he could cover every wall in his room with all of the items he was awarded. It was a very cool experience.

Then we vegged.

~Jamie Wexler
www.jamisonwexler.com