I picked up my son from his first overnight camp experience. Thankfully, they thought better of having the closing ceremony at the horse stables with the flies and the manure and chose instead to have the event in the air conditioned Rec Hall. The parents waited until the campers made their grand entrance. Sweaty boys and girls ran in, screaming greetings to their moms and dads. I was thrilled to see Colton, but not as excited as his little brother who threw himself at him and said, “I missed you so much Bubba!”

The kids lined up and serenaded their families with favorite camp songs. That’s when little brother started to whine. After all, he wanted to stand in front and get a little of that lime light that his brother was hogging. Finally, the songs ended and Colton invited Luke to sit next to him on the floor with the other big kids.

The Awards Ceremony began. Each child was honored. There was the “Best Canoe-er” Award, the “Most Muddy” Award and the “Loudest Screamer” Award (given to a child that shouted “AWESOME!!!” at an ear-shattering pitch when his name was called). Each child was recognized and each walked away with their certificate in hand.

The last award of the evening was called the “Broken Arrow” award. A camp counselor told a story about the tradition of the “Broken Arrow” and its importance through the years. The campers selected the winner by voting on who was deserving of such an honor. Traits such as honesty, loyalty, friendship and leadership needed to be considered when casting their vote. I was more than thrilled when they called my son’s name as the winner. My pride started to well and I could feel the eyes of the other envious parents on me.

Humility hit with a vengeance when my youngest completely fell apart. As my oldest went to receive his award, Luke wailed “I want a big pencil!!” Colton looked back and whispered through gritted teeth, “It’s not a pencil, it’s an arrow!” Luke responded with, “I want a big arrow pencil!!” As part of the ritual, they ceremoniously broke the arrow before handing it to Colton. That did it. Luke fell to the floor screaming, “They broke Bubba’s arrow pencil! They broke Bubba’s arrow pencil”.

I dragged him outside so he would no longer upstage his older brother. I desperately searched for a stick or something to break as a substitute for the arrow. Believe it or not, standing in the great outdoors, no stick could be found. Eventually, older brother came outside and handed Luke half of his arrow as a sort of a peace offering . A generous gesture to say the least but I guess pretty typical of a “Broken Arrow” award winner.

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