camp revisited

I spent my first summer at Camp Illahee in August of 1985. Coming off of an alumnae “reunion weekend” almost 25 years later, I still find myself consumed with the same emotions I felt when leaving camp after my first summer there, and that I have felt every time I’ve left camp since. Loving every second I spent there, wishing I could stay longer, and eagerly looking forward to the day I get to return. Of course I think its cool that I still feel like this when leaving Illahee, but what makes it really special, is that I am one of many women who would tell you they feel this way.

I have been blessed beyond measure in my life. I have amazing parents and a wonderful family; I continue to be humbled by the unconditional love and acceptance they pour out on me. I will be eternally grateful for the sacrifices my parents made to allow me the opportunity to spend 10 straight summers at Illahee. That gift, and make no mistake, it was most definitely a gift, was their way of helping me escape the pressures of “real life” and giving me – even if just for a few weeks – a place where I felt like I was “enough.” Illahee was the tangible thing in which I could place my hope.

It’s really quite amazing that over the years, from former owners and directors to new owners and directors, from old staff to new staff, and past campers to first time campers – that 90 years later – Illahee has remained true to who she is. Yes, things have changed. Songs come and go and come again, new cabins have been built and old cabins refreshed, a nice coat of paint now covers the rafter of Cabin 36 where “BOOG GALLIVAN” had been written with great care and detail in giant permanent marker, Happy Hollow no longer houses campers, there is a high ropes course, what used to be a parking lot for staff is now tennis courts and Heigh-Ho has a new shower house that’s so nice I’d seriously consider walking around in there sans flops. Yes, there have been a lot of changes in 25 years, but Illahee is still Illahee.

At the end of each night, before campers head to their cabins to get ready for bed, everyone in camp “circles up” to sing The Pine Tree Song and TAPS. There is a line in this song that says, “…like the spirit of Illahee, it always will be…” that’s what defines this camp; not the buildings, not the songs, not the activities, not even the friendships - the spirit of the camp that remains consistent with what its always been.

As a camper, I did not grasp the ways that the Lord was using, and would continue to use, Illahee to impact my life. Camp was what I lived for during the school year; when I felt dumb and inferior in the middle of my school day (which was pretty much everyday), I would focus on camp. I would think, “If I can just get through this day, in a few more days, the month will be over, and after this month ends, the next begins, and then before I know it, it’ll be time for me to go back to Illahee.” The countdown from my session’s Closing Day to the next summer’s Opening Day was on the second I left.

Although I did not fully comprehend this at the time, Illahee represented so many of the things that I desperately needed, desired and craved; things I still desperately need, desire and crave. Illahee represented love, joy, peace, acceptance, discipline, gratitude, and freedom. Freedom to be myself all the time, freedom from trying to be more than I was, and freedom from trying to measure up. I understand now that it wasn’t actually the tangible aspects of Illahee in which my hope rested; it was the spirit of what Illahee is all about, and that is undoubtedly the spirit of Christ.

The “spirit of Illahee” is directors, counselors and staff that are the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s teaching girls to serve and love others well by serving them and loving them well. It’s showing girls that true joy can be found in simplicity rather than in material, worldly complicated things. It’s accepting and loving people for their differences rather than in spite of them. It’s striving to see the beauty in all people and all things. It’s teaching girls that discipline isn’t a punishment, that hard work really does pay off, and that just as each of us is unique, so are our successes. The “spirit of Illahee” is celebrating each individual success fully; regardless of whether that success looks like having the courage to conquer a fear of swimming in the lake, shooting a “50” in riflery, or trying something new and failing at it. It’s leading by example and living out – not just telling – what it truly means to “Be A Great Girl.”

Like I said, there have been lots of changes in 25 years, but “...the spirit of Illahee, it always will be.