Fond Memories of The Timbers

So as you can see from my last two posts I'm kind of in a camp mood lately. It started last fall but faded as I got busy with writing and school, I just didn't have time to take trips down memory lane and return to my days as a Timbers Camper. When I had a little free time in December it quickly returned and resulted in a letter being typed up and mailed to someone I knew from my camper days there.

Timbers was the greatest place I knew as a kid. It was a place I was free to be myself, without all the baggage of living in a small town attached to it, and a place I felt safe. I was the outcast in my school from an early age but at Timbers I fit in perfectly. I was able to interact with girls my age who shared many of the same views and hobbies. I found role models in the staff that worked there and many of them became friends outside of camp over the yeas. I fit in for a change. I learned how to sail, make friends, and think about things bigger than what my eyes could see in Small Town America.

I learned a lot about life and myself in those 4 summers spent at The Timbers and it's safe to say it was the one experience in my life that had the most affect on me over the years.

In the off season I would spend time writing to friends and staff I met the summer before. I became pen pals with 3 or 4 new girls each summer and almost always added a new staff member to the list. As the years went on I lost touch with most but managed to become good friends with a few of them. Our lives drifted apart eventually and today, though I think of them occasionally, I am only in frequent contact with two people from The Timbers; both of them, not surprisingly, were staff.

I always seemed to relate better to people older than me as a child and that seems to be the case even today. At the age of 19 I entered the full time work force in the computer industry and have since been surrounded by co-workers who are much older than me. I have managed to find things to talk about and become friends with many of them along the way though on average they are at least 10 years older than me. As I look over the short list of people I would consider good friends today two are younger than me by a couple of years, one is my age and is my only high school friend, and the rest are significantly older than me. I've never had much in common with those my own age and it seems to have carried through to my present life.

I think I can safely say that I would not be the person I am today had I not spent the time at The timbers in my youth. I grew in so many ways it's hard to narrow down what aspects of my life and my personality were not affected by that wonderful place. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Thank you Mom and Dad for allowing me spend time there each summer. You have no idea how much it changed my life!