Summer Camp Sign Up

Today's Neighbors section in the Herald brought back memories. It was packed with ads for all the summer camps available to local kids. I remember the time well.

Most years, the Ds went to the JCC camp. Wifey and I would sign them up in May, and the official kick off was always Father's Day. We'd cram into the gym at the J, and the long time directors Marcia and Jerry would teach us all that year's song -- always sung to the tune of something popular, like "Greased Lightning."

The Ds loved camp. They'd always do performing arts, and at the end of each session there'd be a show. Wifey and I loved it --seeing the Ds perform, and how proud they were, and all the giggling and secret sharing with their friends. After the show there was a visit to the local Dairy Queen for celebratory ice cream...

The summer before D2 started high school, she chose to try sleep away camp, in North Carolina. They had a prohibition on any phone contact, and one night, in the middle of the session, D2 and some friends used a smuggled in phone (one mother sent it hidden inside a stuffed bear) and we chatted excitedly and conspiratorially. D2 learned then the exquisiteness of sometimes breaking rules...

I'd check the camp website each morning, to see if D2 was in any pictures. When she was, it was such a treat.

She had a great time, but the one session was enough. She returned to the JCC the next summer...

Meanwhile, the Ds grew to be junior counselors, and counselors in training...I never got the terms correctly.

It's been several years since we've gotten ready for summer camp. At my office, my friends Stuart and Brian, with young kids, have applications on their desks. They're right in the midst of it. Brian's 2 older boys are headed to North Carolina, and Stuart's kids are going to Pinecrest, in Broward.

For Wifey and me, the days are gone. Maybe the future will hold camp prep for grandkids someday.

For now, I just scan the newspaper ads, and remember...