BF Comes to Camp

My boyfriend has been to camp just about every other weekend this summer. I appreciate all the driving back and forth because it's been a lot! He has put a lot of effort into our relationship this summer.

Early on in our relationship, I told all my friends that I wasn't going to fall for him or get serious with him until the end of the summer, because I wasn't sure if he would make it through. We had been dating 4 months when I left and by the time summer is over, I will have been gone for four more months. That's a big deal in a brand new relationship.

If the situation was reversed and he left me, I'm not so sure how I would have coped. Camp is a weird lifestyle- perfect for a single person who can run off and play for four months, but when you have someone at home, it's a little less carefree to just disappear into the woods.

But the summer has gone well so far. He is incredibly easy going and understanding. He is patient when I don't answer his phone calls or emails or when I have to end calls early to "deal with a situation". He is wonderfully understanding when he comes for visits and groups of screaming 19 year olds pile into my house to tell me a story in the middle of us watching a movie.

I can't say enough how wonderful and patient and amazing he is. I have really wanted him to stay for a few days during the camp week, but I've been trying to ask nicely and not be demanding, even though it is REALLY important to me.

Camp isn't just a location with buildings, and when he comes over the weekend, it just isn't the same. When kids arrive and there are a million things going on all over the place, camp comes alive. I can describe my job, tell him stories every day, he can even look at pictures, but until you hear the ROAR of campers cheering in the dining hall, or have a hilarious conversation with an 8 year old, or see the whirl of kids and staff in activities, you just can't possibly understand.

Camp isn't just my job, it is my life, my love, my passion, and I desperately wanted him to experience it. I am falling in love with this man, but I needed him to see this piece of my heart before I he could really understand me and know that part of my life.

BF came to visit this weekend. I was EXHAUSTED after a busy and draining week. We spent a lot of time relaxing, sitting around, eating, just being. It was a perfect weekend. But the BEST part was that he stayed! Sunday and most of Monday, he was here, right in the action, following me around, seeing camp in all of it's glory, talking with kids; he even sung along with the songs at the campfire (which he had vowed he could NEVER do). It was one of the highs of my summer so far.

I don't think he really understood how much it meant to me, but it literally meant the world. I needed him to experience what I do. I know he doesn't fully understand, and that's okay, he doesn't need to. He is supportive and wonderful (he was before this), but I wanted him to be hot, sweaty, physically drained, laugh in that way that only kids can make you laugh, and be absorbed into this crazy world... even if it was just for 24 hours. And he did. And I am thrilled.