Years ago I came as a camper to elementary camp at Hickory Cove. I distinctly remember walking into the dining room for registration where I was met by June Hartman, the camp nurse and sometimes registrar. I said, Hey. She responded quickly with, Straws cheaper. Grass is free. Which left me baffled for hours... Then rolling my eyes when I finally figured out her meaning. I ended up spending most of that week in Junes little nurses office - which is remarkably unchanged to this day - with a stomach bug. She regaled me each day with riveting stories of the birds which had visited her bird feeder and we traded tongue twisters... And finally, days later, declared me well enough for swimming lessons with Splash. It was an interesting camp week. Years later, when I returned to camp as staff, I asked June if she remembered my week in her office and she said, Betty Botter bought some butter. She remembered. In that moment, her remembering made me feel like I was part of the family at Hickory Cove. She taught me that the simple act of remembering can make a child feel seen, recognized, and loved. Later she and her husband would become role models for me and my own husband. She would cry with me over babies I lost, and she would snuggle my firstborn with joy. We would share a pizza and she would tell me stories about Paul in his youth and they would look at each other with smiles that would melt your heart, each remembering the young person they had married. She would sit, wheelchair bound at a camp reunion where we sang How Great Thou Art as I sat at her side, holding her frail fingers, feeling them tighten on mine as we sang the line When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! We love you, Junie... I cant wait to stand in heaven and feel a hand on my shoulder as you step up behind me and with a twinkle in your eye say, Glad to see your back.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:48:27 +0000
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