Letters from Camp

Yesterday was the annual reunion for the camp that Emma attended for 5 years and that Sarah still attends. It reminded me of this story.

Emma’s first summer at the camp she attended in the Adirondacks was the summer after she finished fifth grade. Actually, it wasn’t just Emma’s first summer there. Our whole family went to camp together for 5 years. Peter had been a camper at the same camp when he was a kid and when it was time for Emma to go to there, they offered him a job at the boy’s camp. About a week before camp started we packed up way too much stuff and headed north for the whole summer. Emma settled in at the girls’ camp and Peter, Sarah (who was still too young to be an overnight camper), our dog, Willow, and I settled in at the boys’ camp about a half mile away.

Even though I saw Emma pretty much every day when I was bringing Sarah to and from the girls’ camp for the day, she was still required to write the weekly letter home, just like all the campers whose parents didn’t live at camp. Peter and I craved these letters from Emma. The brief sightings and occasional conversations we had with her during the week didn’t really give us a full picture of what she was up to. It turns out the letters didn’t either.

One of my all-time favorite letters from Emma that summer went like this:

Dear Mom and Dad:

Yesterday we had a candy store. I got a 3 Musketeers bar. Have you ever had a 3 Musketeers bar? It has a fluffy, white nougat center and is covered in chocolate. It's delicious.

Love,
Emma