At the start of staff training, a familiar face, Trina ‘89, pulled into Camp with a new staff member in tow…

This weekend I just did something that was so familiar, even though the last time I did it was decades ago.

I picked up a CRS "kid" from the airport and brought her into my parents' home.  We dragged her into our family events, willy-nilly, including, but not limited to, my Dad's 80th birthday party. Family and friends broke bread together and talked for hours of cabbages and kings and the world at large.  The next morning, I drove up the Hudson River and dropped her off at camp.

33 years ago this week, we picked up Grace from the airport and brought her into our lives.  2 weeks ago, she asked me if I could pick up one of the teachers on her staff.  Nzali is on staff CRS this summer, as it goes into the first in-person session since the pandemic.  I'm so glad that we could adjust our lives to make room for this, because hosting her fed my soul.

There is a remarkable familiarity in hosting people for CRS.  They accept your family and hospitality, no matter how disorganized the hosts. They come in with an undetermined set of needs, which you scramble to fill before sending them off to camp (clothing? pharmacy?  toothpaste?).  They are exhausted, jet lagged, and excited.  My family hosted campers for about a decade (1986-1996), and just the thought of doing it again perked my mom right up.  She was only disappointed because we couldn't jam in her trademarked 3-hour tour of NYC into the bargain…

Thank you, Grace, for bringing Nzali into our lives!

And thank you, Trina, for bringing Nzali up to Camp! We are so excited to see what this summer brings.