For six years of my life, I traveled to Haliburton, Ontario in Canada to go to sleep-away camp. Coming all the way from Los Angeles, it definitely was a long distance to go just for camp when there are camps in the area. But, growing up with Canadian parents, they thought I would miss out on a life experience if I didn't travel to Canada for camp.
It took me a few tries before I found Camp Timberlane. I bounced from camp to camp and slowly gave up. I never believed I would find a place that at some point in my life I would call my second home. I remember the day my parents dropped me off at the buses. I felt that knot in my stomach grow and the tears start to form as the day progressed to that moment when I would finally have to say goodbye. Then it came. I sat on the hot concrete floor and sobbed, not letting go of my parents, and not wanting to experience another camp.
That's when I met Allie. We had spoken a bit online before camp because the directors put me in contact with her and so when she saw me crying, she came up to me and comforted me, assuring me I'd have a friend when I got there.
As the years went on and as I grew older at Timberlane, my friendships grew and I met some of the best people I know. But, the unfortunate part of this was that they lived in Canada, so I only had two months during the year to spend with some of my absolute best friends.
This was hard, of course, as any young and growing girl wants to spend time with her best friends. But, thanks to the technology we hate to love, I was in constant communication with these friends of mine. Before FaceTime was even a thing, we would video chat, or "vc" as we liked to call it, all night on iChat. And of course, we can not forget Blackberry Messaging, or BBM, and the conversations we would have on that until our fingers would be sore from pressing those tiny buttons all day. But now with Snapchat, iMessaging, and FaceTime, it is like I am always with my friends. Except, I am not. We do not even have those two months together anymore, because we grew apart from Camp Timberlane.
But, even though we grew apart from the camp, we didn't grow apart from each other. So now the trouble is making the time and being there for the important things. Allie has come to LA a few times to hang out with me, as have my best friends Nicole and Tara. I have gone to Toronto, where most of them live and stayed with them and have had fun like we did at camp. Their families have treated me like another child of theirs and opened their homes to me with loving arms. Especially when I was having a hard time at Syracuse, I was lucky enough that Canada was only a flight away for me to escape and have a fun weekend with people I love.
Camp was always my home away from home, but I realize now it was the people that made it my home. The place, don't get me wrong, is still one of the most beautiful places to me on earth, but it's the people that made it so special to me. I am aware of how absolutely cheesy that sounds, but unfortunately it could not be more true.
From having friends who have lived far away, I have learned how to maintain friendships even when you are not seeing each other everyday at school. So, when I went off to college this past year and had to say goodbye to my best friends from home, I knew what it would be like being long distance friends, and I was prepared to put in the work to keep my best friends around. I know it always pays off because friendships mean so much to me and the thought of losing a friend I truly love just because of distance, seems silly and unnecessary when I know I can always make it work.
