It's 2:26 on a Sunday and I'm wearing makeup and jewelry and sitting on my bed at home listening to Needtobreathe and being aimless on Facebook. I'm not wearing my wood cookie and I'm not sitting in a cabin with little to no AC meticulously unpacking excited campers' belongings. This is not how it should be.
I miss having to hold onto my heart/wood cookie whenever I run or jump. I miss my friends.
I miss my first week campers, who will do anything if told to by their sister, who tuck their t-shirts into their underwear, who are blind but not slow and very spunky, who are brave and strong even though their hands are always shaking, who can't speak but teach me daily, who think they are my mother, who are troopers, and who shake their butts in the cutest little ways.
I miss my only shoe options being green Chacos or red Chacos.
I miss my second week campers, who tell me I look like I'm twelve years old, who shake their naked booties in my face, who won't tell me if they wet their pants, who think they are Indian princesses, who tell me to go die but love me twenty minutes later, whose only words are, "What?" "Hey!" and "No way", who don't know my name, and who can't pronounce their H's and R's.
I miss not having time to brush my teeth until rest hour.
I miss my kids week campers, who won't even try to learn my name, who link arms with me and call me their boyfriend, who show up to Camp in a wheelchair super unexpectedly, who tell me to "zip it" all the time, who consistently wear their shoes on the wrong feet, who don't understand the concept of twins (that they are individual people with different brains and the capability to make decisions independent of each other), who legitimately cannot sit still, and who are so picky that they basically just don't eat.
I miss sleeping so lightly that I wake up at any movement at all in the cabin just in case someone needs my help.
I miss my Odyssey campers, who feel comfortable enough with me to bite my fingernails for me and sit on my lap while naked, who write me letters during the school year, who have the most adorable and abundant freckles, who fight over who gets to hold my hand and play with my hair, who complain through everything but later tell me how much fun they had, who can't stand for anyone else to be sad, who were so completely shy when they arrived on Sunday and then on Saturday when they left danced and sang loudly with the best of them, and who want to be electrical engineers when they grow up.
I miss not shaving my legs.
I miss the campers I never got to have because I skipped a week of Camp to go to the beach.
I miss my total lack of personal space.
I miss my Sertoma campers, who constantly sassed me, who hugged me first thing when they woke up, who are ten years old and still wear diapers at night and at rest hour, whose belongings magically disappeared completely from human sight, who had hair too short to braid but insisted on it anyway, who sobbed their hearts out at one minute and the next ran around like crazy, who talked my ears off, who were terrible at listening when I asked them to do something, who always wore their hair in pigtails, and who took absolutely forever to get dressed.
I miss being called "Mommy" by a bunch of little girls.
Y'all. Life is sad when Camp is over. I mean, my stomach is absolutely and completely done with Camp food, I am so overly exhausted and covered in bruises and scrapes and scabs, the anklet made for me by a first week camper is really faded, and the real world is ready for me to come back. It keeps on nagging me with responsibilities. And a bouncing checking account. And my NCFs (Non-Camp Friends) miss me.
But life is sad without Camp. I have what Norman McGee calls PCSD (Post-Camp Stress Disorder) for reals. A few of my Camp friends spent the night with me last night and they all went home this morning. And I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I mean I have a to-do list (watch the SCAEYC video and email any critiques to Rose, email Cheryl when I'm coming to see her, figure out stuff for RUF music team, quit Fike, find out my bank account routing number and go see Greg about money and stuff, call my grandparents in Statesboro and ask if I can bring friends over for lunch next Sunday, call my aunt and uncle in Lexington and ask if they want me to visit them when I'm in town visting Cheryl, balance my checking account, blog, pay my mom back for stuff she so graciously bought me, clean everything ever, go look at my apartment, buy a princess poster, figure out stuff for RUF this week, unpack from Camp and then start packing for school, organize things, paint a bookshelf) but I just would honestly rather not do any of that.
Here are some songs that make me think of Camp:
Endless Love - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross - it might seem like I'm being obnoxious by saying that this song reminds me of my campers, but I'm not. I sing this song during shower time to my ladies. I want to share all my love with campers. I can't resist their charms because they are so lovable. They mean the world to me. I'm a fool for my campers. No one can deny the love I have inside for my ladies.
Forever Like That - Ben Rector - pretty sure this song was written for Ben's wife...but I like it for my campers. This is exactly how I feel about them. I loved the time we spent together at Camp. I want to spend my forever like that.
Souvenirs - Switchfoot - I realize that these song selections are getting cheesier and cheesier, but I mean them sincerely.
Cups - Lulu and the Lampshades - any sight would look prettier if my campers were with me. I miss them by their hair and everywhere. I miss them by their talk and by their walk.
These Hard Times - Needtobreathe - this song pops into my head when I'm really stressed trying to figure everything out and it always so comforting. It reminds me that there's someone greater in control and He's got it all figured out.
Time of My Life - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - my campers are the one thing I can't get enough of. And Camp is cool without them, but really they're what makes Camp. I owe it all to them. With them I am not afraid to lose control. With them I seriously have the time of my life.
Love,
Lauralicious
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