Visitors Day At My Son's Camp - What I Learned

This past weekend was one of the highlights of the summer for me – Visitors Day at my son’s camp. It was to have been the first time in 4 weeks we’ve seen each other –to say that I missed him would be a gross understatement. Now, I state for the record, that Jason is your average “garden-variety teenager” meaning that he’s a great kid who thinks he knows everything and that his parents are uncool – you get the picture. Little does the kid know how cool we really are!

Let’s go back in time - July 22, 2011, a fateful and horrific day. Anders Behring Breivik, 32 – a Norwegian lunatic entered a camp for teenagers in Norway and in cold-blood, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle – exacting a swath of death on 77 innocent teenagers, each one mercilessly cut down in the prime of life. That’s beyond tragic.

I’ve also written this posting in the aftermath of the Colorado massacre in which another twelve lives were senselessly lost. It’s becoming too easy for lunatics to run rampant.

No punishment or sentence could be too severe for these sickos. I hope each dies a miserable death and rots in hell. Ironic that exactly one year to the day later, we were visiting our son - at summer camp. I paused for a few minutes appreciating our good furtune.

I don’t want to be macabre – it could have been my son, or any of our kids for that matter.

Sudbury's not close to Toronto – it’s a good four hours in the car – without traffic. (I would have said on Highways 400 and 69 – but since more than half my blog’s readers are outside of Canada – they’d likely not know what or even where these highways are – anyway, I said it). Factor in traffic. It could be six hours –no question. Karen and I swallowed hard (took one for the team), and made the trek. We’re very glad we did!

Please note that Jason’s camp (Camp Solelim) has not contributed to this posting and I am in no way affiliated with it, other than Jason being a fully-paid up camper.

The day was awesome. Here’s what I learned –

1. Enjoy what’s free. It’s been said that there’s no such a thing as a free breakfast – and that there’s nothing for nothing. I agree. But there’s pretty much only one thing that’s free – and that’s loving nature’s beauty. When we got to Jason’s camp, it was breath-takingly beautiful. Situated on a vista, all Jason needs to do is walk 100 feet to see the lake below. There’s lots of other panoramic sites too. Wow! And it’s free. There’s no question that being surrounded by nature and appreciating it for what it is – can only be good for the soul. I just hope he knows that.

2. Keep it simple. I cannot stress enough the benefits of keeping it simple. I would hardly say I am an experienced camper. In fact, I’ve never been camping. Not even once. But looking around Jason’s camp, it was abundantly clear that simple is the order of the day. Simple, rustic accommodations. Simple activities. Simple meals. Simple rules. So good. No doubt many businesses out there would be able to benefit from a day at Jason’s camp where they’d see (in a heartbeat), the benefits of keeping things simple.

3. Know what your biggest asset it and treasure it. Clearly, the 130 campers at Jason’s camp are the camp’s biggest asset. I know it. My wife knows it – and wow – for sure the camp knows it. It’s clear in the way the camp’s counselors look after the kids. Seems to me that each counselor enjoys a personal relationship with the kids in their cabin. I like that. Now, let’s just face reality for a sec. Jason’s a teenager. His friends are teenagers. And we know that teenagers will push the envelope, challenge authority whenever they can and be --- well --- teenagers. My son’s no different. But I was very comforted to see the excellent care and love they show for each and every kid – given personalities and teenagers --- not an easy feat.

As Visitors Day drew to a close, I looked around at all the smiling face. Parents were happy. Children were happy. Counselors were happy. I was again reminded of the horrific events of Norway exactly to the day of Solelim’s visitors day. It made me pause. It made me stop and think. I felt a tear run down my cheek. Stopping to think is something that we should all do much more often.

And if all I can do, is to make my blog’s thousands of readers world-wide stop and think for a minute, then I would have accomplished what I had set out to do.

As my friend Pat Condell says "Peace – if that’s not too much to ask for."