sure to shine

i grew up going to camp namanu . i went for the first time in 1970 when i was 9 years old. after that i went every summer until 8th grade. my tradition was that i would go the last week of the summer. special things happened in the last week: there was namanu dream cake and dream boats , the last sweet days were savored by staff and it was just magical. there were a group of us who went together, and we were shaped by the adventures we had there. cooking over campfires, singing silly songs, swimming in the freezing pool and boating in the pond.

ruby just returned from her first namanu adventure. she spent 4 days and 3 nights in bluewing with 2 pals from school. i was a bit nervous since this truly was her first time away from home. i wondered if it was really my agenda and hoped that i would not get a call saying "come get her she is crying".

she loved it and was so proud of herself for being able to handle being away from us for 4 days. immediately when i picked her up she said she wants to go for 2 weeks next summer. one week will do, but i am thrilled that she will have this magical tradition of summer camp at namanu.