This summer we went on an awesome family vacation, camping with family and friends; we were able to do lots of fun things – canoeing, swimming, jumping off rocks into the river, throwing rocks, relaxing by the campfire, making s’mores, and even nothing – one of my favorite things to do on vacation. But, the thing that sticks out in my mind more than anything about this vacation was catching crawdads with Jeremy, even though I wasn’t really involved. Jeremy is a college student, and what I really appreciate about him is how he reached out to the younger boys in our group – boys of grade school age, some of whom are my sons. He took the time to be with them, going snorkeling, playing sports, and he taught them how to catch crawdads – not just the little one you find under a rock while on a float trip, but the dangerous crawdads – the ones big enough to eat. On our final night of camping, Jeremy took the younger boys down to the river, with flashlights and the bait. The bait was set out, and they waited. Every 10 minutes or so, they checked the bait, and gradually started filling a big bucket with huge crawdads. Within an hour or so, they had caught enough for us to cook, and they brought them back. I will never forget the sense of adventure and pride that the younger boys had, as they talked about their experience, the dangers of the sharp pinchers, and showed off their catch. One of the crawdads was so big that they even called it a lobster. It was priceless. And, the crawdads were quite tasty when we ate them; the boys beamed as we all consumed their prey. I believe that one of the most significant things that we older folks (whether teenagers or adults) can do is to take the time to be with, enjoy, teach, play, and simply hang out with younger children. Sometimes it can be very inconvenient; an imposition on our personal needs and desires. But, it is guaranteed to make them feel really special and extremely valuable. My daughter feels it when my wife takes her shopping, and when the famous Heather B. takes the time to talk to her after singing at Life Teen Mass. My sons feel it when I take the time to play wiffle ball with them, or take them fishing. All of our kids feel it when we hug, snuggle and pray with them. And, everyone felt it while catching crawdads with Jeremy.