Edge

I am a scouter. I was a scout and earned my eagle rank back in 1994. I was asked to be the scout master again in Overland Park, Kansas. I accepted the responsibility and needed to go and get a new uniform from the scout shop. The scout shop was just a few miles away located on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Instead of just me going to the store we all piled into the car. We got Ella and Patrick into their car seats and booster seats and buckled for the ride over to the scout shop. We always tried to do things together. Maggie and I would almost always do the grocery shopping together and take the kids along with us even if it was harder to have then in the carts or running around the store with us. Well this was no different. We arrived at the scout shop and went inside. I found the uniform that I needed. The challenge with a scout uniform is that once one has purchased the shirt one must buy the patches that go with it. So we had to find the appropriate council patch, unit numbers, leadership patch, and all of the knots that I had earned. Knot patches are worn to signify certain awards received as a youth and as an adult. For example I have one for earning the arrow of light award and eagle scout award. These are youth awards but are represented on my uniform. I also had a knot for specific training. I would continue to earn knots as I continued to work in the scouting program. I also have a patch that says "Espanol" which just means that I speak Spanish and can help scouters who speak that language. Once we gathered up all of the required patches and knots and book we went to the front and purchased all of the items in the basket. I gathered up the two runners and headed for the door while Maggie paid for the purchase. When I got out the door Patrick and Ella wanted to look at some water streaming out of a large cement pipe that went under the parking lot of the scout shop. The drop was about ten feet from the top of the parking lot to the water. Patrick went over to the top of this pipe and looked down. I being the protective father admonished him not to get too close to the edge. Patrick said he wouldn't and then proceeded to get closer to the edge. He was trying to look into the large cement pipe by laying on the ground and sticking his head over the edge of the top part of the pipe. He lost his handle on the pipe or stuck his body too far out over the edge and flipped over the edge to the water ten feet below. Now the water was a little deeper right as it came out of the pipe where the water had pushed the dirt away but there were rocks, cement and other scary things to land on. I watched as if in slow motion as Patrick went over the edge and fell to his death in the rocks and water below. I am sure I screamed as I watched in horror as he fell. He landed in the only safe spot between the ricks and cement and other scary things into the deepest part of the water. After splashing in the water he looked up at me with his eyes wide. I asked if he was okay as I traversed the steep hill to the side of this drainage ditch down the ten feet to help him out of the water. He was soaked. He had no cuts or bruises. He was just shocked from the fall and I was just grateful he had not hit any of the rocks or cement or scary things. I said in as nice a tone as possible, "See, I told you not to get to close to the edge." Maggie was coming out of the store and found Patrick all wet and Ella just waiting. Maggie probably thought of many things to say about my horrible parenting but held off. We stripped Patrick of his wet cloths and I gave him my shirt to wear until we could get back home. I laugh about the experience now but that day I think that some of the rocks jumped out of the way when they saw a little boy falling from the top of a large drainage ditch.