Last Sunday, Delainey went to camp. This is her second year at the camp, so she wasn't afraid of the unknown. She was looking forward to seeing fellow campers and directors. She was looking forward to climbing the rock wall and swimming. She talked nonstop about canoeing and crafts. She was excited!
As we drove to the camp, she cried....all the way there. Jim and I were ready to turn the car around and go home to keep our baby from crying. It wasn't big sobbing type of cry, it was the silent, tears rolling down her face type of cry. It was the type of cry that breaks my heart when I see my baby cry like that. We tried to talk through her tears, but they kept coming. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to go to camp, it was that she was going to miss us.
It's no secret that Jim, Delainey, and I are close. We don't have family near us, so we rely on each other pretty heavily. We spend most of our free time together. I understand how she feels about missing us, because I knew that we will miss her as well. But, we all need time away...time to grow, explore, relax, be with friends. And as D grows, there will be more time away from us...and there will be a time that we miss her more than she misses us, which is how things should be in life.
So, we didn't turn around. We kept driving to camp. And she kept crying. We would reach around and hold her hand...and she would squeeze. I know that Jim's heart was hurting...camp week is hard on him. Then we pulled into camp. We were met at the gate by some of the counselors, waving and smiling. And the tears stopped. We looked back and our baby was smiling, a big smile with her entire face!
We went to registration, and I felt like my baby was Norm on the tv show Cheers. Everyone was saying her name, hugging her and welcoming her to camp. She took her popsicle, got her hugs, and the tears were forgotten. When it was time for her to go off with the rest of the campers, she was ready. Jim and I got hugs and she happily went off. That was when I was ready to grab her and take her home with me, because my tears were ready to start.
Jim and I took a tour of the camp and got to see her cabin (which was different than last year). It is a lovely camp, cared for by people who care about the camp and the campers. It is the type of camp I would love to have gone to as a child. Our tour ended and we walked back to our car. Then we heard a sound that made us smile...a belly laugh from our girl. She saw us, gave us a little wave, and then went back to her game. All would be well for the week!
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