"I feel empty inside as if something is missing."

Saturday morning we woke up for the very last time this summer at Tecumseh. Ellyn always says that we might wake up to week 1, but it didn't happen this time. We did get to go to the Green Cathedral last time for Desert Pete and Llama rocked My Lighthouse for us. I love the lyrics, "I will trust the promise, you will carry me safe to shore." Tomorrow starts a whole brand new adventure outside of camp and God will continue to carry us safe to shore. 

Ellyn was selling DVDs at check out and Arielle had to leave for a wedding so I was on my own for check out this morning. It was sad to say good bye to the very last group of Choctaw girls for the summer.

Oh wow I will miss Mary Cate and Sally. They are the sweetest girls and they were born to be campers here. They both want to be CILTs and counselors when they grow up and I have no doubt that will happen. On Friday night Arielle and I walked back to the cabin with Lilli, holding her hands, and had a heart to heart. I said, "Lilli, you know how you're kind of weird?" I explained that I meant it as a compliment and she smiled up at us and said, "I'm REALLY weird." We told her that we want her to keep being weird no matter what, even if that means she's different than other people. We love that weirdness about Lilli and I hope when she comes back next summer she's even weirder.

I'm so glad Nart and Kaitlyn were in Hopi for week 9. I love these friends and it was so fun to get to be porch buddies till the end. They're awesome counselors and it was great to see them in action with their girls.

Lilli was my last camper of the summer. She sat down with her new camp bible and just started reading as she waited for her mom to show up. If this isn't a beautiful picture then I don't know what is.

After all the campers left, all the counselors ate lunch and then got to work cleaning all of camp. I was with a crew of people reading the week 9 Parent Letters so they can be mailed out ASAP. After a summer of writing my own letters, it's funny to read everyone else's.

Then tonight after getting cleaned up the whole staff was invited back to Scheumann Lodge for the staff banquet. Smooney and Erin O'Awesome both came back which I was elated about. They're two of my favorite homies and the main characters of my summer. They are a huge part of what Camp Tecumseh is to me.

I love that so many Day Camp counselors come back on this night too. It was sweet having Kat, Sophie, Taylor and Emily all work this summer. Getting to be their counselor last year was the best and I'm so glad I got to see them make the transition to being on staff. I know that they all have several more summers to keep returning to love those kids.

Just when we got Smoon back for the CILT Pack we lost Arielle. But we still took some group pictures and pretended that she was there with us.

I had such a blast this summer with these friends, one of the best summers I've ever had in the Longhouse. I'm so thankful for friends that are goofy, creative, encouraging, dependable, honest, intentional, adventurous and fun. I will miss being with them every single day. Best friend necklaces forever.

Maggie, Molly and Alli have been great friends of mine for years now and I love being on staff with them. These girls are all so different than each other but they're all phenomenal counselors. Getting to see Molly being crazy with her Catawba girls, Alli leading the pack of Fox kids and Maggie living the dream in Teton was always awesome. They are fantastic people.

It was really weird not working directly with Jamie Z this summer after being partners for the last two years. But I'm so glad that she kept showing up and being a part of things at camp. She has such a beautiful soul and I'm so thankful for her friendship. I'm glad that she'll be at Tecumseh this year so that I'll be able to see her when I'm up there to visit.

After the staff banquet everyone said good-bye one last time. The end of camp is always one of the very hardest things--we're so happy that it happened but when you leave it's like you're leaving part of yourself behind. In a camper eval, an 11 year old boy said, "I feel empty inside as if something is missing," after going home. It's so true. Kids work their way into your hearts, you invest your energy, time and sweat into this place and it becomes your home and your family. Being a camp counselor is unlike anything else you will ever do and it's my favorite thing I've ever done.