The Sari Diaries - Thursday 7/26/18

Dearest Chippies,

As you may have picked up from my previous posts, I love nothing more than using this platform to brag about how amazing Chippewa is. The best part about these Thursday night entries though is that writing them provides the opportunity for reflection. So much happens every day, and life at camp moves so fast that you literally might miss it if you don’t make an active effort to stop and appreciate it all once in a while. It’s a blessing and a curse. But it’s hard to complain about too much good stuff happening… so maybe I’ll just write about it instead…

I write to you this evening after one of the best days of the summer thus far. Seriously. The morning started out strong with regular activities, some welcomed normalcy after the intensity of Realm these past few days. It was nice to get back into the swing of things and to hear about the many activity-related accomplishments that have been happening across camp. Several new campers were initiated into the archery Olympic Club today at lunch, which was quite impressive. Overall, lots of good stuff happening all around!

After lunch today, we had an afternoon program in celebration of Love Never Ends. This is an incredibly important message that was introduced to our camp community by Alexa Weiss, a true Chippy Girl who passed away last year. We spent the afternoon rotating through various activities, all of which centered around strengthening bonds and appreciating the magnitude of our impact on one another. We swam, made Love Never Ends cards, ate s’moreos and enjoyed being in the company of those who make us the happiest.

You could literally feel the love in the air, it was incredible.

We continued the celebration tonight with a Love Never Ends themed campfire. Some of Alexa’s family members and friends spoke beautifully about what her legacy means to them in life and at camp, and many other campers read quotes that align with her powerful message. Everyone who spoke—be it in the campfire itself or during the key log ceremony—demonstrated awareness and appreciation that love is the foundation of this place; that it is the underlying quality that makes everything that happens here so impactful, memorable and special. Toward the end of the campfire, we also introduced a new tradition of Love Jars. Each cabin will have their own, and campers and counselors can add messages about their cabinmates over the course of the week to be read as a group every Friday night after the campfire. I love the idea of this, and I am excited to see how this plays out and grows in the weeks and summers to come :).

Every day—but especially after a day like today—I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in the world to have so many Chippies in my corner at all times. These people show up for one another when it matters most, and I am proud to be a part of a community grounded in so much strength, kindness, empathy and resilience. In other words, Chippies are the best.

That’s it for tonight. Thanks for reading, see you next week!

Sincerely,
Soph Aloaf