"We were never bored!"
When I was in high school, I was matched in a program called Citizen Advocacy for a year or so. My brother was also matched in the BBBS program of Green Bay. I was quite young and careless at the time, enduring some extremely tough times at home and at school. Yet at some point these experiences had an impact on me. It may not have fully registered at that time, but the impact was simply lying dormant, waiting for a time when I would be older, stronger, and wiser. After college when I moved to this area and began a career, that time had finally come. The time for me to reverse the role and give back to the community through the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization. I realized how important this program is to the kids in our communities, and seeing that I was already involved in a couple of volunteer services, it seemed like a great time to become a Big Brother!
Over the many years of our match, my work schedule has allowed me several days off each week, so I've had plenty of quality time to share with Giovanni. We have done so much together over the years that we both find it very difficult to come up with just one favorite memory. An adventure that certainly stands out is the time I took Gio camping up in Door County at Potawatomi State Park for a whole weekend. It was his 10th birthday the Friday that we headed up there, and he had never been camping before. Part of my birthday gift for Gio was a "treasure hunt" that awaited him near Gills Rock. I had been up there a month prior and had hidden a lock box full of goodies in one of the many remote bluffs. I planted clues of different sorts, and even drew up a detailed treasure map. His excitement and anticipation during the hunt, and the look of joy on his face when he found his treasure was like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting!!
Being a Big Brother has taught me the importance of being patient and understanding with a child, but also to set rules and boundaries and adhere to them. Together, our willingness to learn, explore, and discover new things has also helped me realize that it isn't always the adults doing the teaching. There are many skills and activities we have learned about as a result of our time together, such as fishing techniques (and how to construct a fishing rod by hand), building 16-foot rowboats from scratch, proper competitive attitude while playing sports, a variety of knowledge gathered from art museums or a Civil War reenactment camp, and discovering exactly why Milwaukee's Lakefront is listed on "The Top 10 Best Places to Fly a Kite in the U.S." Did you know that?
Speaking of activities, some of the other incredible things we've done together include: Snow tubing at Sunburst Hills in the winter. More camping/hiking/biking trips like the Elroy/ Sparta State Trail. Weekends in June at Mt. Olympus in the Dells. Geocaching while on day hikes. Halloween activities such as taking him and his friends trick-or-treating and going to area haunted houses. A drive to Madison to visit the Capitol Building or to eat at my favorite restaurant on the planet - Ella's Deli. Trips to both the N.E.W. Zoo and the Milwaukee Zoo. The years I signed Gio up to participate in the "Drive, Chip, & Putt" Golf Tournament for Kids at the Camelot. Roller-skating at the Spectrum and Ice-skating at the YMCA in Oshkosh. Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army and involving Gio in other volunteer activities. Enjoying a variety of bizarre foods, or my home-grown hot peppers. Guest-speaking once at the annual Lobster Boil together. Fishing galore, including the annual BBBS Fisherman Road Club outings each year. Brewers and Bucks games, or better yet, taking Gio to Lambeau Field to watch the Packers beat the Eagles in the 2007 home opener! His first NFL experience!!
The list goes on and on. The huge amount of interests we share guarantees one thing - we never get bored!!!!!!!! Now in his senior year of high school, we aren't able to get together as often as we'd like to. However, with all the sports he's been involved in, I always have games or meets to watch and show my support! Football is his dream, and he's already had the honor and privilege of playing in two back-to-back State Championships at Camp Randall Stadium! I'm so proud of him, and he has certainly grown up to be quite the young man. I still miss "little" Giovanni though, and wonder sometimes how he grew up so darn fast!
We were matched on May 28th, 2003, and what stories we have collected over the years!! Two creative minds, an open road, and a little bit of time is a recipe for FUN, and that's what this program is all about! I'm so grateful to be a Big Brother, and to have such a fantastic Little Brother like Giovanni, whose smile says a thousand words!!!!
GO SPRINGS GO,
Ben Calderon
