Wavus girls are a gift, and I thank you for sharing your daughters with us. This beautiful week has been full of sun, rain, dance parties, transition, challenge, and delight. Our oldest girls have headed out of camp and into the woods and waters of Maine to experience our longest trips and to discover reservoirs of strength, love and resilience that might yet be unknown to them. We wish them luck and devise ways to send them our support every chance we get.
The messaging in these early days has been “Welcome Home!” Wavus Point is a beautiful and magical space to call home, for sure, but we also celebrate the notion that Home Is Where the Heart Is. These girls and young women are practicing kindness and openness in whole new ways this summer. I love watching them create pen pal relationships with different aged cabins, I love hearing the ‘please and thank yous’ ring through the air at meals, and I love seeing the staff model asking for and offering help to one another each day. This generosity of spirit gives me hope for the future. At Sunday chapel one counselor shared a story that highlighted how each person has a unique lifeforce inside, and when we give the gift that is OURSELVES to others, we make the magic happen. It gave me goosebumps.
Finally, I want to share with you the message I instill in our Wavus counselor staff during our opening two weeks of training and beyond: Know Them, Take Risks, and Find Joy. These actions are some of the greatest gifts they can offer young campers who return here each summer or who took the risk to join us for the first time. These women work hard, laugh loudly and care deeply. They teach from their hearts, and they are helping each other each day to build a Wavus community that makes me both humble and proud.
Here is to the Best Summer Ever!
Regards,
Kirstie