there was an irresistible urge to do all of the wonderful things in the world. and that was the romance of summer time.

Most have moved on into fall with school, but today is my last day of summer, as tomorrow I move back to small college town. This summer has felt like an eternity, in all of the good ways of the meaning of that word.  I am a summer lover, but not the usual lover that idolizes and over talks its greatness.  I am a usual appreciator of the balance of a good break with a good stretch of hard work.  But this summer has left me as the usual summer lover that you find in teenage high school passionates-the ones that can’t seem to function without recalling all of their adventures and constantly reliving it all.  I have never had such a wonderful summer as I did now.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my life becomes more and more enriching the older I get, but I’d also like to think it had a lot to do with circumstance.  The blessed circumstance of opportunity.  The opportunities to travel to the very places that I had always dreamed of and be enriched more than I could have imagined by experiences about my ancestry that left me learning so much.  The circumstance of an over scheduled life, and trying above all else to plan and execute something so wonderfully great for these awesome teenage girls, so that they could come to love camp as much as I always have.  The circumstance of blessings beyond measure.  And mostly, the circumstance of becoming more myself with each step of the way, and having the whole world notice it too.  I had always said that last summer I had learned who I was.   And that much is true.   But this summer I became a better version of myself that I could have imagined the summer before.  And I think that’s the beauty of having a period of time when you can focus on you as a being, and not as you as a student.  Because I believe now, that you can always become a better version of yourself.  And that is the real gift of growth that I learned this summer. I had heard a story once that related life to a hallway of doors.  And as we make decisions, for good or bad, the doors open and close, depending on the consequences.  And right now, I feel as if all my doors are open. They had been shut, and I know that there will be times when they will shut or open, but as for right now, I couldn’t be more blessed that they are all open.