Juxtaposition

M and I went out to dinner with N, B and N's parents. Later, M told me that she was really glad I'd come and that N and B had told her how nice it was to be able to hang out with me in a social way. When N and B were at camp, they were counselors and so we didn't have the "hang out" type of relationship.

Also at the restaurant was a group of counselors. They were laughing loudly, jumping around and at one point, one of them sat in a mini airplane ride for kids that was off to the side of the deck. The rest of them laughed and took photos.

M, N and B all looked on- slightly disgusted. "We were never like that" they said maturely. Uh huh... "yes you were" was my response. It's amazing how quickly they grow up.

Counselors are the same every year. There is the loud one, the funny one, the quiet one, the annoying one, the popular one, and so on. Their names change but they are essentially the same. And they follow the same pattern- unsure and a little awkward at the beginning, everyone trying to define themselves in the group. By the third or fourth week, they've become best friends- inseparable and feeling like they've known each other forever. By the end of the summer, they are like siblings, arguing one minute, best friends the next, but family.

If they come back a second year, there are more patterns as well. It was interesting for me to sit back and look at three counselors who had been through it compared to the counselors who were just beginning.

Later, M said to me, "I remember arriving to training and looking around, unsure if I would be able to make it the whole summer. You said we would be best friends by the end and I thought you were crazy. But these are my lifelong friends and I can't imagine my life without them. You were right and it turns out you know more than I thought.

I smiled. I didn't have to say I told you so, but it certainly felt good to think it in my head!