๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ. โค๏ธ
In 2008 I started working at a Boy Scout camp in Wisconsin. For 8 weeks every summer, I worked alongside dozens of other camp counselors to create a fun and memorable summer for Scouts, Leaders, and Parents alike! It was nothing like I had ever experienced before! ๐
๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ! ๐
It was the week I was assigned to work with a Troop, and I met a young Scout named Evan. At 11 years old, it was his first time attending camp, as well as his first time ever being away from home for an entire week!
Many Scouts typically see their week up at camp as an opportunity to be away from home and free from daily responsibilities. But for Evan it was a different story. By the time Day 2 had arrived, he ha become really homesick. ๐
I remember seeing him cry outside the camp’s main office. I remember Scouts from his Troop being dismissive of his behavior: โ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต! ๐๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต!โ And I remember talking with him. ๐ฅ
Through his sniffles he explained to me how he was afraid of being away from home for so long. In fact, he was more worried about his parents and how they were back at home. He worried if they were really okay with him being up at camp. ๐ฐ
I had never experienced a situation like this before with a Scout, let alone anyone else. But he was looking to me for support. ๐
I remember putting my arm around him and offering him a new perspective. I asked him to consider his parentโs point of view, that perhaps his parents didn’t want him worrying about them. ๐
“๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ? ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ?” ๐
๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ค ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ. ๐ฌ
We had a conversation or two after, but by Day 4 he had become a lot more comfortable being at camp. I saw him taking merit badges, talking more with Scouts from his troop, and enjoying himself in camp activities. ๐
I rarely spoke with him the rest of the week. But I was glad the situation had ended on a positive note. ๐ฏ
๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ.
…A few weeks after his troop left camp, I was at the main office when I was notified I had mail. Typically I received care packages and letters from home, my family writing me how much they missed me. โค๏ธ
๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง. ๐ค
He had sent me a handwritten letter thanking me for helping him. And along with the letter he stapled a photo of us during a camp activity. ๐ท
I read the letter multiple times, and unexpectedly I cried. ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐. ๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ. ๐
This happened over 10 years ago. Not many people know this story. Not many people know about Evan. And not many people know about the impact they can have on others.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ. ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ. โค๏ธ
His letter and photo now sit in a scrapbook atop my closet shelf, and I don’t plan on ever getting rid of it. While I worked at camp for another 5 summers, I never saw Evan again.
I don’t where he is or how he’s doing or if he even remembers writing this letter. But what I do know is that this moment has left a solid mark on my heart. โค๏ธ
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