This piece is dedicated to the staff of NYLT Troop 3B in 2022, both youth and adult. I thank them for beginning as strangers and like a quilt, becoming something new and greater than any of the individual parts. It was my pleasure and honor to be Scoutmaster for the team, June 25 through July 2. May they all be blessed as I was through the experience.

Patches of cloth

Unique stories each

Carefully fit together

New pattern emerging

New stories to tell

Some patches are old

Frayed ‘round the edges

Witness to many tales

Perhaps a little wiser

Experiences to share

Others are young

Fresh with new eyes

Bringing their own stories

Wisdom of youth

Respectfully shared

Some pieces don’t fit

No matter how they turn

Always clashing with others

Respectfully set aside

Saved for use in another pattern

Some pieces seem familiar

Others unexpected additions

Held together by the threads

connecting each to the next

The whole now more than the parts

As the pattern completes

New life begins

New adventures found

Stories will be told

Building wisdom to be shared