It's never goodbye..It's just see you later…
It’s so hard to believe that it’s that time to say goodbye. The last 50 days have been amazing and we cannot thank you enough for sharing your kids with us. We have watched them grow over these last seven weeks. We have watched them accomplish things they thought they couldn’t. We have seen them make lifelong friends and watched how they have made Chen-A-Wanda their summer home. As you sifted through the thousands of pictures and watched endless hours of video from this summer, we hope you got a sense of what amazing things your children did this summer. It has been our priveledge and honor to care for your kids. Thank you again for trusting us with your kids and believing in us. We wrote the following letter and read it to your kids tonight. There was not a dry eye in Shields Hall as we all realized that this is it for summer 2013.
Enjoy them tomorrow and know that their summer family will miss them dearly.
Life is Great at Camp Chen-A-Wanda.
Jon & Elissa
It has been 50 days since we all arrived at camp. This has been one amazing summer and it is because all of you were here and we went through it together. We say this after each year and have no idea how it can possibly get better but it does. This was our most favorite summer yet.
We have watched you all grow in leaps and bounds this summer and we want to highlight a few things you have done over these last 50 days.
You overcame homesickness
You made friends-Really great friends
You became a better friend to others
You tried things you never thought you would
You found out just how strong you are
You beat your fear of heights and flew on the trapeze
You finally hit that homerun over the Big Red Monster
You thrived all summer long without TV & computers, Instagram and Facebook
You talked to one another face-to-face
You worked out problems with one another and came out understanding each other better
You played all day long
You have won together and you have lost together
You gave and got tons of hugs
You held hands and walked arm in arm because it just feels great to do that
You stood alone on this stage and sang, danced and told jokes. You were fabulous and courageous.
You found your voice
You believed in yourself because we all believed in you
You gave your friends and counselors standing ovations because we that’s what we do here
You became a Hoodie Fan!!
You stood arm in arm in front of the Grand Canyon, together.
You saw the good in people here and we all saw the good in you
You made a difference in our lives and we hope that we made a difference in yours
As we all head home tomorrow we ask you do a few more things for us.
Never forget the incredible summer you just had here
Always remember that each one you are incredibly amazing, awesome and you matter!
Recognize that you have been part of something life changing here at Chen-A-Wanda
Don’t sweat the small stuff & know that you have all made summer 2013 the BEST ONE YET!!!!
Jon and I are better people because we had the privilege to spend another amazing summer with each one of you!!
From the bottom of our hearts, WE THANK YOU!!