It’s been a week since you left for sleepaway camp. You did awesome at the bus stop… a few tears but I couldn’t tell if you wanted the buses to pull away (so you were that much closer to camp) or you were going to miss me (wishful thinking?). You have had a HUGE smile on your face in the pictures I see from Camp Connect and Bunk 1. Thank God for those sites or else we would have nothing to text, call or share with our friends and family at home.
I am sitting here today and can’t believe how much I miss you. It hurts a little bit. Maybe because in one year at camp you grew up so fast – or because I know you will be so much more grown up when you get back in August. When you went to camp for the first time last summer I was so worried – would you be okay, would you sleep okay, would you cry, will you make friends (of course you did), will you play activities, what will you eat – the list could go on. Who would give you a hug to make you feel better! Did you think I was abandoning you for seven weeks? But I knew inside I was giving you an incredible gift of summer camp fun and friends and experiences you could not imagine.
I spent this past year watching you in awe (and some jealousy), playing camp songs, watching camp videos, talking to your camp friends, making play dates and traveling to other states to see them. Telling your “home” friends about them and making sure you heard all about their camp friends. Oh and convincing some of your home friend that they MUST go to sleepaway camp. I knew then I did something right!!!
I thought year two would be easier to pack, yeah right, (I thought) we packed lighter but the bags were harder to zip than the year before. And I promised I would not stress about visiting day and what to bring you yet it has already started. You have only been away for a week! I guess that makes me “crazy” or just simply your incredibly proud mom who wants to shower you with lots of hugs and some special gifts.
When I was a camper, my parents were at camp so they were able to see me (from behind the scenes) and know what I was doing every day, watching me interact and be proud of their little girl from a (closer) far. Well, I don’t need to be there because I can see it clearly in my mind. Thank you to the camp for taking care of her. Thank you to the head counselors, group leaders and counselors for taking care of all our kids because of its hard work.
Now sign me up!
By: Sharon Kessler, Summer 365 Campbassador
