When I was a kid, my dream was to go to sleep-away camp. All I wanted was to have that iconic experience of going away to camp and making friends who I would have forever. My parents never really wanted to send me to a camp where I was gone for a whole week, and I think that was their way of protecting me from the horrors that I would have endured.
I was enrolled in day camp for a couple weeks each summer where I think the plan was for me to socialize with other kids my age, and avoid having me sit around the house all day. Instead what I got was a camp counselor who could never remember my name and always told us we'd get "crotch rot" if we went swimming for too long.
In the end, I'm pretty thrilled with the decision my parents made, because reading some of these letters from kids who did get sent away is enough to make anyone want to stay away.
1. Asking the important questions
2. Back up. Tell us more about that baby deer.
3. The kid knows what he wants.
4. Okay, this is just heartbreaking.
5. What kind of camp are you at, Josh??
6. 7 times? Yikes.
7. Hate! Hate.
8. This kid has extreme feelings about camp.
9. Is that clear enough for you?
10. This kid is very literal, and I love it.
11. Do they not have full pieces of paper at this camp?
12. At least Jim is concerned about his parent's finances.
13. Ah, yes. "Morris" code.
14. Specificity is key.
15. The P.S. is what sells it.
16. ...how often are you saying eggs?
17. Could have fooled me!
18. #StayStrong
19. I hope this kid is at drama camp.
20. This is a great sign!
21. There's a lot to dissect here, and it's all amazing.
That last letter comes from Liesl Testwuide's eight-year-old son, who was at summer camp. She says it was the first time he ever spent more than a night away from home, and she was worried about how it would go over. She wrote to him every day, but wouldn't get responses. Then she got that letter and knew that he was doing fine.
Liesl is no longer worried about her kids going to summer camp.
"This year I'm sending a whole book of stamps to camp with him," she wrote. "Can't wait to see what he writes!"