Camp Calumet

so this isn't a new place i traveled to. nothing about this is new. this entry is about the end of a chapter of my life.
for 11 years i have gone to Camp Calumet Lutheran for boys and girls in Freedom, NH. i've been a camper, a trainee, and a counselor. camp is a place that has changed my life and has meant more to me than any country in the world ever could.

i left on saturday and won't be returning next summer. i don't know how i can put my eleven years of experience into words, but i'm going to try here.

camp is love. camp is a place where i found myself. where i learned it was okay to act like a child (in fact, it's encouraged). camp is a place of no judgment. i have gone a week without showering and still get hugged every moment of every day. i can't even count how many times i get hugged a day but i never get sick of it. being a camp counselor is what i'm good at. making sure kids have fun, having fun with them, teaching them about god. i've learned how to be a ninja and blend in with trees and cabins. i've learned how to work with people i love and hate and keep a smile on my face no matter what. camp is a place where i'm not afraid to cry and let people see my true self. camp is a place where i learned that i'm not the only one in the world who pees when i laugh really hard. i've fallen on my face and embarrassed myself countless times, but that's another thing that's encouraged. camp is where i've met my real friends. the people i can really tell anything to. more than half of my contacts in my phone are from calumet. it's a job, it's a vacationland. i am constantly surrounded by friends. i can walk outside my cabin and have twelve people to talk to. when i want alone time i can sit on the beach and look out at the moon and stars above the still-watered lake. camp is a place for hokey pokey mondays, flannel fridays, and sid the sloth days. camp is the reason i started drinking coffee. camp people are the first people i call when something happens in my life.

i love being covered in paint. i love wearing bright socks and homemade t-shirts and matching with my co. i love having 23942359 inside jokes with the staff as a whole and random people. i love hilarious things campers say or do. i love hugs. i love how people just know when i'm upset and are immediately there to comfort me. i love being a grumpy old man and getting the kids to have fun being grumpy old men too. i love having water fights on hot days. i love dizzy bat slip n slides with 8-11 year old girls. i love that people understand me at camp whether i'm being serious or insane. i love that i don't have to care about how i look because normal attire is a t-shirt and shorts or dumpy sweatpants and a sweatshirt. i love how i embarrass myself in public now because i'm in total camp mode. i love that i've found a family at camp. i love that people cried over me leaving. i love that countless numbers of trainees and current staff members look up to me and strive to be me. i love that the only place i've ever been homesick for is camp and am currently crying as i type this. i love that on the day i left there was a crowd of about 30 people standing around my cabin waiting to say goodbye to me. camp is home to me. it's my family, and my best friends. i already hate myself because i'm not coming back next year.

i may not get paid well, i may have some terrible campers, but the experiences i have at camp and the love that i share and receive is something that a lot of people will never experience. i am truly blessed to have found such a place. calumet is where i found myself and where i share myself unapologetically because calumet is where i am completely and utterly free to be me. it is truly the greatest place in the world

this sip of heaven is all we need to find and feel your love

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