As I wondered about my next blog, I got an email. After reading it, I was delighted for two reasons. First, it is an uplifting endorsement of camp. Second, it is well-written - so I can use it as my blog. Please note that when her daughter talks about wanting to “come home early” this was after 2 weeks rather than 4 weeks.

Dear Steve and Susie,

As [my husband] and I approached the pick-up area on Saturday morning, Steve (Baskin) said to us, “Have I got a deal for you! I have something that looks like some semblance of your child + a trunk with some olfactory proof that camp has occurred.”

His statement was mostly correct.

What we picked up looked like [our daughter]; but what we experienced was a 13 year-old girl who was happier, more confident, more expressive, more sure of her own strength and resilience, and a little more tan. In Steve Sir’s blog words: Everything at camp this year was more.

[Our daughter] told us about her ups and downs about wanting to leave after 2 weeks and how she was really mad at me when I sent her what she called “the hate email.” Meaning she hated that I told her she needed to stay at camp! To her credit and to my strange delight, she showed me the letter in its crumpled up state along with her rebuttal letter which she chose not to mail after sitting with it for a while. (A skill more adults should learn, in my opinion…)

The trunk, on the other hand, was not as bad as I expected. There were a few fragrant pieces that needed to be washed (TWICE!) but overall the olfactory proof that camp had happened came mostly from [our daughter]’s sweet smell as I hugged her (and she let me! Shocker!).

So once again, I find myself being profoundly grateful and indebted to you and the staff at CC. [Our daughter] really needed camp this summer. So did the family.

Thank you, for all that you bring to [our child] and the other kids.

Thank you for being our compadres in parenting.

Thank you for returning [our daughter] not only as some semblance of herself, but MORE of herself.

Love,

[Camp Parents]