By Senior Director, Joanne Kates
The Point Smalls cooked dinner in my cabin tonight and then we ate together outside. There were many wonderful things about the dinner – their calm competence in the kitchen, their interest in learning new skills, their sweet camaraderie. The food they cooked – shrimps sautéed with lemon and garlic, pasta with pesto made from scratch, Greek salad and barbecued steaks.
But the greatest thrill of my time with these 15-year-old boys was their incredible sweetness. They’re my neighbours, so I know and like them already. But being up close and personal with the whole group showed a deeper side: They are so good to each other. There was none of that macho banter that can characterize male adolescence. No one-upmanship. Just kindness to each other.
They were thrilled about each other’s victories. Excited for the Brent boys leaving camp at the crack of dawn tomorrow to make the 140 km paddle ‘n’ portage run to Brent and back.
Towards the end of dinner I asked if they wanted to see my new carbon fibre canoe, which is 16 feet long and weighs 33 pounds. They took turns picking it up, carrying it, rejoicing in its lightness. And I thought: This is male adolescence: Being thrilled by playing with a canoe? Teenage boys in cities are playing video games and stalking the internet alone, while these boys are doing something different, together. And knowing how lucky they are. What sweetness