The other day I spoke to one of our camp “families” over the phone. He needed a ride to his doctor’s office and called several friends and associates. None were conveniently available, so he called an old friend he went to camp with in the 1950s. “Of course,” was the immediate response. This tweaked his active mind, so he called another old camper friend, and the answer was the same, “Of course! When?”
Was it just the way it is with people, or was something else being said? Was it a pure accident that none of his friends could make themselves available to him, but two very old camper friends immediately did? Were the friends from camp just accidentally available, or were they answering from a different place?
I concluded that our camps in the 1950s and 60s did far more than teach kids how to swim, ride horses, etc. Camp taught responsibility for oneself and others. Our pragmatic philosophy gave each small group freedom to be their own camp! Purple Sage and Camp Shasta were made up of many camps, each consisting of 8 campers, a counselor, and a junior counselor. That those relationships are still highly regarded many years later speaks volumes.
The day after Thanksgiving, we were called by two Shasta campers. These two ladies oversee Lenette and me, as do so many others. We are fortunate beyond words to have so many remarkable caregivers looking after us. Both contribute to our lives every time they call or visit. One was a professional editor in her past life, and she joined in with Steve Z to assist in editing my book, Events Dictate. She thinks it is a “winner.”
How blessed are we to have our “family” be made up of so many!
Sy