Lessons Learned…
Time 4
Twenty
four hours. Times seven. This can feel excruciatingly
long when one is anticipating spending that time engaging in a task for which
one feels thoroughly inept or severely unqualified. I had the time to give
which was why I volunteered, but, despite my willing and sincere heart, the
realities of the work to be involved were far, far beyond my skill set and that
was terrifying. Who on earth did I think I was to sign on to be a counselor at
the muscular dystrophy summer camp for a week? Four adolescent campers were to
be charged to my care. The responsibility for their health, safety, and fun at
their special week at summer camp and away from home was on me, and I was
nothing more than willing. They arrived in wheelchairs wearing various body
braces and each one had a sparkle of camp magic in their eyes. Their camp magic
eyes melted my fears and fortified my resolve help them find the fun that was
synonymous with summer camp. They giggled me through my nearly hopeless
ineptness and patiently taught me how to serve them. We became quite the
flamboyant little gang o’ fun. From
hilarious costumes and daily elaborate accessorizing, to snappy, chic
hairstyles and late night heart to heart conversations, we became a tightly bonded
example of lovely esprit de corps. My girls. Twenty four hours times seven absolutely flew
and suddenly the time was expired. In a sad silence, we packed up our camp
belongings preparing for the breaking up of our gang o’ fun the return journeys
to our homes and regular lives. Regular seemed to somehow represent a
significant letdown. Camp magic had infused willingness with adequacy and then
lifted and changed us all, and in that change, we would each forever carry a
piece of that week, of that twenty four hours times seven, of each other with
us. To be continued…
No comments:
Post a Comment