Dad is Back!

My dad is back!

It feels like just yesterday that I was standing in the rain, nervously preparing to lead my staff on a 9 mile canoe trip that no one (including me) was totally sure of, trying to mentally prepare to be a strong leader despite my own reservations. In those same moments, I was also terribly afraid that was the last time I was going to see my dad.

My staff were taking final bathroom breaks and loading the last pieces of gear into the canoes, anxious and in need of confident reassurance that it would be fine. I was supposed to be the person doing that, but instead, I was off to the side, crying and holding onto my dad, making him promise he would live and come home.

That moment was one of the most difficult experiences I have had at camp. My dedication to being a camp director, my nervous staff, my ability to separate personal feelings in order to be professional- none of that was enough to distract me from being scared daughter who was worried about her dad.

The canoe trip was a wild success and the summer has flown by, and now my dad is back. He took it easy, he had a great time, he stayed healthy and I’m glad he was able to go to the place he loves so much after being so sick just a few months before.