I’ve been both a camper and counselor at Camp Alleghany. This summer I’ve become a Camp Alleghany parent and part of me is not really sure how I got here, but the other part of me keeps thinking…
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…when your daughter is born you think, “Yes! My Ghany Girl! ”
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…your daughter is two and you start contemplating calling camp to see if she is old enough to go all summer.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you blink and suddenly find yourself packing your daughter for term camp while quietly humming the Circle Game song.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you can’t remember packing being this difficult.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you’re labeling, labeling, labeling.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you contact the camp to make sure they remember you were a member of the Blue team.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you worry that your child will get eaten by a bear or struck by lightning.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you worry that your child is only going to eat peanut butter and sugar sandwiches for three weeks.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent if…you think three weeks sounds like a really long time.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent when…you cross the Greenbrier River and your heat skips a beat.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent when…you insist on helping your daughter make her bed before leaving.
You know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent when Sam announces that it’s almost 5 o’clock and all parents must leave and this announcement confuses you because you have never been kicked out of camp.
You especially know you’ve become a Camp Alleghany Parent when you give your daughter an extra long hug and then with tears in your eyes you let go!
As all parents know parenting is always about preparing your child for their next life adventure, setting them on their journey, and then…letting go!
–Sarah Biehl, Former camper and counselor and now Camp Alleghany Parent
