"I can't believe you're still here..."

Week two of year 17 at camp is completed. Barring an offer I cannot refuse and/or 3-5 years of trying to actually carve out a career path until I fall back into education, there are now 5 weeks left in my camp career.

Today, we gave out our female camper of the week to one of my all-time favorite campers. Her mother found me afterwards and said, "I can't believe you're still here!" I looked and said, "17 years...still going!"

What I was thinking was, "Y'know what, neither can I." It isn't that I can't believe I'm still here -- in fact, I can't believe that 12 months from now, I WON'T be.

I look at this particular camper as an example of what makes me in total disbelief of everything camp. She's 11. When she was 7, I taught her in swimming, as well as archery. Since then, I no longer teach swim, but I still see a large chunk of the kids in archery. I've watched her grow up.

I've watched a lot of kids grow up!

I'm too young to have seem so many children blossom into young adults, and in some cases, adults. Take David, the person whom I consider my right-hand man. 4-5 years ago, I taught him how to teach swimming and then the year later I taught him how to teach archery. Now, I watch him use lesson plans I created -- verbatim -- to greater success. When I was in my last year of our Junior Counselor program, I was with the 8 year olds...they are all now JCs themselves. And then there's everyone younger.

The funny thing -- the campers who touch you as special people (and favorites) at age 6, 90% of the time, strike you as special people (and favorites) at age 16.

And I've been here long enough to watch it happen -- more than once.

It's a very special feeling. I am going to miss it...