Summer Blog Post August 9th

Laugh. Think. Cry.

I did all of these things today.

In the famous speech Jimmy Valvano gave at the ESPYs in 1993, he said, “If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”

So I guess I had a heck of a day. A lot of days include at least two of those emotions here at camp. Sometimes you’ll hit all three, which I think is interesting because when we’re home, I don’t think so much emotion gets packed into a single day. There are good days and bad days and meh days, but here at camp, we tend to pour a lot into each day. A single day at camp really feels like three at home.

Camp living is compressed. We jam a lot into a CGL summer. With that comes long, wonderful days that can run a whole gamut of emotions.

So, I laughed today. We laugh a lot at camp, so that’s nothing new. I laughed when I got hit in the head with a paintball, and we laughed at jokes on the bus. I laughed when I walked into my shutter, and we laughed when the boys were practicing their division song for Survivor Sing tonight.

I’ve also been thinking a lot, so that’s not new either. I’ve been thinking about the end of camp and the last week of the summer is typically a retrospective time for all of us.

But then some of us cried today, too.

I’ve been writing a lot about heroics on BB1 and all the great feats that have turned into memorable moments on CGL’s center court. But today, in the final seconds of the Cadet Boys Leagues title game, one of the best basketball players in the division was on the free throw line. Down one. Just over 1 second to play.

Make one, game is tied. Make two, they win.

He missed them both. As the winning team charged the court, he fell to the ground in tears. His coach came over. His older brother came over to console him. It was hard to watch, the true agony of defeat on display in broad daylight.

His team and his friends all helped to pick him up and 20 minutes later, that same boy was at free swim. Laughing. Jumping off the diving board. He’ll probably think about that game later, but in that next moment, it was all about swim.

Laugh. Think. Cry.

You do that seven days a week, you’ve got something special.