In tribute - a thank you.

One of the facets of my job is occasionally going about the county taking care of people in other areas.  Once every six weeks I work a weekend, and have a fixed assignment about 20 miles away from my office.  The first time I made the drive, I passed one of those roadside steel marker posts planted in the front lawn of a not-so-old house, and it caught my attention because, clearly, no ancient history could have taken place on a modern, suburban front lawn. On the second time I passed it I slowed, but owning to the traffic could only note a name - a woman's name - and something about the Guinness Book of World Records.Third time - a mention of Cub Scouts.  Finally in sheer frustration I made sure I could pull over to read the entire sign, and noted that it commemorated a Mrs. Marion Rohner who had set the record for the longest serving den mother - 48 years. What?  YEARS?  Silent admiration and astonishment followed.  I have two sons, and served as den mother for a bit - 48 weeks, maybe 48 months, but nowhere near, not even worth counting, next to 48 years.  She served from 1953 to 2001, taking care of generations of Cub Scouts, starting with her own son.  Thinking I would look this up in detail, I next went online to the Guinness site, only to discover her achievement was nowhere to be found, not even her name.  Perplexed, I e-mailed them and received a polite reply that due to the size of the tome and the number of records it was impossible to keep all of them in current printing, whether they had been surpassed or not.  Are you kidding?  You dropped the woman who ran a Cub Scout Den for 48 years in favor of some idiot who eats the most  hot dogs or burps the loudest?  Surely the book of world records ain't what it used to be - a listing of truly remarkable, laudable achievements.   So, Marion, this is for you - thank you - for  the 48 years, for the countless lives you touched and made better, for putting up with I-can't-image-how-many rambunctious little boys (and their parents), truly, you deserve more than a metal sign post on your front lawn - you deserve to be remembered - and I promise you, you will be.