A Dr. Seuss Goodbye

Sprucelands is all about friends - horses and human friends. It's about meeting, saying ' hello', and knowing in a second that you are each other's best friend for the next few weeks. You eat together, share 'good mornings' and 'good night' after visits to the outhouse, and you trip over each other's dirty socks and wonder why the health department insists you make your bed.

Amelia and Emily are really good friends. They play store together, splash in the creek, have belly laughs over funny songs in the dining hall, share riding lessons and walks up and down the road between the lodge and the barn. Always there is an interesting conversation. Often imaginations spark creative thinking and before you know it, they are off on a tangent that only children or children at heart can understand.

Taylor and Ciaran are also close. In the photo on the right they are sharing precious moments at the trail pace before Taylor's departure back home. Taylor was only here for a week, and she learned how hard it is to do only one week. It is rough leaving friends and horses behind when you've only just become acquainted.

Taylor earned her own way to camp this summer. She is a member of the EXCEL Club at Perry Elementary/Middle School in Perry, New York. The club is a motivational club which supports students during their school stresses with homework and assigned projects. Study skills are discussed as is responsibility and student follow-through with meeting deadlines. Most important is that these group members realize there is someone interested in their progress who is willing to share tips for studying and be a willing advocate if one is needed.

As a fringe benefit of studying hard, any EXCEL Club student in grades 6-12 with an overall average between 85-90 earns a free week at Sprucelands. Students with an average between 95-100 earn two weeks at camp.

The horseback riding/camp piece is not sponsored by the Perry School. For insurance reasons, the school needs to be separate from any horse liability. So those camp weeks are a gift from Sprucelands Camp in hopes these young people will experience the earning power of their mind. In the end, the Sprucelands investment for kids like Taylor may just make a difference to their confidence and overall life goals.

Fact of the matter is that all kids at Sprucelands try new things as they step outside their comfort zone. Whether they are an EXCEL Club member or they live in other cities, states, and countries, they immerse themselves in the friendship process and they're happy they did.

Friends at Sprucelands are unique. They are very accepting. Walls crumble here. Horses and campers touch souls in a way that doesn't happen in school settings. Because the camp atmosphere promotes a family feeling, many come to think of themselves as a virtual member of our summer family. The across-camp caring is awesome.

On sunny days I'll often see a group gathered to just talk about common ground. I overhear them discussing challenges they will face in school this fall, good books they are reading, a horse they love, or ways they are changing here at camp. It's something special as cultures exchange, individual senses of humor spark giggles, talents emerge, and positive leadership blossoms.

Since we are three days away from the end of camp, everyone has the new academic year on their mind. No matter whether a camper lives in Florida, Georgia, Texas, PA, NJ, NC or countries far, far away, school is around the corner.

The one thing I tell my campers and staff - a life lesson for us all - is that it's easier to say goodbye if we're mad at each other. The time before parting is when squabbles can happen. Doesn't matter whether you're leaving home to come to camp or leaving camp to go home, squabbles can happen. Why? Because it's hard to say 'goodbye'.

So...having that data in front of us, we constantly remind ourselves to continue our good spirit until Saturday so we have no bad feelings or regrets when we part.

Yes, it's difficult to say 'goodbye', but every 'hello' means there is one day a 'goodbye', and ours is coming quickly. I am frequently reminded that this is a Dr. Seuss summer and in his wise words: Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.