Today I have a “guest post” from a friend of mine who
commented last week. I really enjoyed her thoughts, especially as a comparison
to my own. Two different generations of Camp Cedarledge, two different
perspectives. What makes this even more interesting is that there is no connect
between the two – I have many friends with whom I attended camp, and many with whom
I served on staff; some, too, who were my counselors. Jessica, however, began
going to Camp Cedarledge a decade after my last summer…she talks about changes
as well as traditions and, in addition, lets us know that some things really
don’t change at all:

“I think the biggest things that kept me coming back year
after year were these:

“1. At camp, it
didn’t matter what was going on at home because time seemed to stop in the
middle of those seven hills. The summer of ’96 was the first summer after my
parents split and I was finally able to let go of all the anxiety I had built
up about it — I was FREE to just have fun and be a kid!

“2. At camp, I found
people who I probably in a million years never would have been friends with in
the real world. But at camp? Never thought twice about it because we all had
this common blood running through our veins.

“3. At camp, things
were constant. It didn’t matter how old I was or what things were happening at
home or in school. I knew I could go back to camp and pick back up on
friendships like summer never ended.

“4. At camp, I was
able to slow down and enjoy the little things — the way the rain sounded on the
tent roof at night. The way little girls’ laughter sounded when you were being
goofy at campfire or the lunch table. The way the sun would hit in Wohl Meadow
just right as we assembled for campfire.

“And many, many, MANY
more things, of course.”

So, you see, the more things change, the more they remain
the same. We all have our traditions, each generation, and we hate to see them
disappear. On the other hand, the “newbies” create their own and those are just
as special to them.

And, too, as I’ve mentioned before, those who came before us
probably roll their eyes at some of our memories and activities. Of course, at
the same time – some things should NOT change like, for instance, the camp song
and the unit songs; and air conditioning? Really? At CAMP? Oh, please!