LeaveittoLaynie

I went to camp for 11 years, 8 of those years to overnight camp, each session lasting 3 1/2 weeks.  It was only 45 minutes away, as I realized later as an adult, but it was worlds away from my everyday life.  The spirit, camaraderie and the sheer joy I felt at my home away from home kept me coming back year after year.  Singing camp songs and cheers gave you the instant feeling of belonging. Friends you made at camp are life long.  They have seen the very best and worst of you and they still love you!  

Many families look at parents like me in shock and horror.  How could you send your children off for 3 1/2 weeks!  Camp is the best gift you can give your child.  It really teaches them life lessons.  How to get along with others in a closed environment, tackling challenges you never thought you would do or try, how to share, how to work as group, how to step forward as a leader, how to be sympathetic to those who are having a tough time, oh and also learning to make your bed.  I truly believe that these life lessons have made it easier for our children to go away to college and thrive.

My husband and I, both as teens, went back as staff to this same camp for the same reasons we went as campers.  Sending our kids to the same camp becomes a right of passage for many parents.  Putting our kids on the camp’s big green bus left me with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart.  Daily I rushed to the mail box to see if one had written to tell me of the same joys they were experiencing as I did as a camper.

Now our kids are staff at this same camp.  We can see the joy, spirit and same frustrations we both had as being staff, knowing that they wouldn’t have changed a thing about choosing this as their summer job.  The pay is awful, but you don’t do it for the money.  You do it for the same taste of camaraderie you felt as a camper, to be with your friends you’ve know your whole life, and to impart the same spirit and joy you experienced as a child to your campers.

The next chapter is still to be written.  It will be interesting to see, as a grandparent, seeing our grandchildren stepping onto those same iconic green buses, witnessing what we felt, sending their kids off in our children’s eyes and heart.