Back to Camp

After nearly 3 days of being away, last night, I finally made it back to camp. I had planned on being gone for less than 24 hours. I only had fancy underwear left in my drawers at home, had to go and buy more dog food, had to buy (and then return) a cell phone charger, and more than anything, I hadn't mentally prepared myself to miss half the week. Everyone was fine- staff stepped up and took on extra responsibilities, programming went well and camp was still standing when I returned, so I probably shouldn't have worried, but as the person who is directly responsible for every single aspect of camp, I get frantic at the thought of being gone for even a short period of time.

By the time I got back to camp at 8:45, I was completely exhausted. I was emotionally drained, sick of being in the car and just ready to collapse into bed. Olivia was bursting with energy, so I brought her and Griffin out to the field. He had been really groggy when I put him in the car after picking him up from surgery, so I was pleasantly surprised when he started running around too.

As I stood out there, a group of 5 staff who had their night off walked by. When they saw me and the dogs, they started bouncing around and ran over. It was wonderful and incredibly uplifting to see them get so excited. They filled me in on adventures from the week, told me stories about their campers, asked about Griffin (and had get well cards they'd crafted) and as we stood there, Griffin approached and attempted to hump Counselor J's leg. I felt complete, knowing everything was back to normal and life was going to be okay.

After they left, S, A and Nurse J walked down from putting the kids to sleep and all rushed up to me, faces bright. I felt so happy to be back and content, knowing that everything went well, but that I was still missed. Camp doesn't need me to survive, but it's nice to know that I'm important to a lot of people.

In the morning, I was at breakfast early and as I walked around to each table I was surprised at the reaction. I had only been at camp for a day before I left, so they really didn't know me well. I was nervous that they would act like, "who's this person taking charge all of a sudden [which is why I wasn't planning to lead anything, just mingle with kids and let S take the lead]?" But they were so excited to see me- tables of children yelling for me to come to them. They all wanted to know how Griffin was doing, tell me their adventures and once again, I felt like a hero being welcomed home.

There's only a day and a half of camp left this week, but I'm happy to be here and hoping that everything goes smoothly.