Marcus is eleven, and last summer I took him to father/son camp. Years ago Marcus’ younger sister Andria lived with us for three months as our foster daughter.
Marcus (a.k.a. “Tank”) became my buddy from the inner city and has been ever since.
So here we are with no electricity, no running water, 3 days on the Tahquamenon river and every day we do some daring activity like pole-climbing or the ropes course.
The ropes course is 25 feet above the ground and even though Marcus had a helmet, climbing gear and able assistants at every side, he was totally intimidated.
The first section was a sort of horizontal rope ladder that sorely tested his balance and stability. At long last he made it across. But then the next section was a tightrope walk on a single cable…. That’s when Marcus lost it.
He looked down at the ground far below and shook with terror. “I’m afraid of heights!” Just to put one foot on that cable and put his weight on it took all the will he could summon.