More on Camp 7-24-12
On Sunday I just made the ferry. I was the very last car on. I started thinking as I drove to camp about What If…. What if Richard and Bee got married and
had a little girl? What would they
name her? Richard was named after
his two Grandfathers. My Dad was
Richard and Scott’s Dad was Gordon so we named him Richard Gordon. That was easy and both Grandpas were
happy. Then came Kathryn. The name June Ann or Ann June just
didn’t set well with me. She
needed a more royal sounding name.
One that would fit with Richard.
Kathryn is not a family name and I don’t even care for the name
Kathy. I was very determined not
to have anyone ever call her Kathy.
Her first name was going to be Kathleen. My Dad has a cousin by this name and I adore Kathleen. But when I said Kathleen is didn’t
sound right at all. When we
brought her home from the hospital a friend called her Kathleen thinking I had
named her Kathleen. Now when she
said Kathleen it sounded so pretty that I almost changed her name. Kathryn was a name Scott liked and it
went well with Richard. Scott even
picked out the spelling. Her
Middle name Margaret is from Scott’s mother’s middle name and my Grandmother was
Margaruite. This was my Dad’s Mom
who was very close to me. So I
figured Margaret was kind of on both sides of the family. Julia was considered as well as this
was Grandmother’s name on my Mom’s side.
I tried to choose family names because I like tradition. I like the family ties and knowing that
a name was from someone in the family. So back to Richard and Bee. Bee’s sister (who also died from brain cancer) was
Elizabeth. What better name than
to have a Kathryn Elizabeth after the two sisters. Or even Elizabeth Kathryn. I’m more partial to Kathryn Elizabeth of course. If you read this Bee, it is only my
mind buzzing and thinking thoughts.
Parents are the only ones who name their babies.
Before camp registration started I was talking to a couple
of ladies and we were talking about camp names and such. One lady was probably noticing my Panda
necklaces and Panda pin on my nametag when she said, “Wasn’t there a Panda
too?” I tired to gently say, “Yes, there was and she was my daughter. She passed away in February.” And then she said Yes, I remember her
and went on to talk about Kathryn’s smile and bubbly personality. She even said that I looked like
her in the eyes and nose. I liked
that.
After dinner I really had a hard time leaving. I wanted to stay for memory circle as I
knew many people would be sharing their thoughts about Panda. But yet I didn’t want to stay because I
knew it would be hard and I would cry and probably cry a lot. Even at Arts and Crafts I started to
cry. They had taken down the memory
flags that were written on from last camp and I read two. They were both about Panda and I
started to cry. I had to
leave. I couldn’t even look at the
flags. I knew they said such nice things
but I never wanted to have Kathryn be part of the memory circle because that
would mean she was dead. It hurts
so bad to think of her as dead. I
left and didn’t take part in memory circle. I didn’t want to make it even harder for Richard. I know he doesn’t say anything and at
memory circle he is quiet. I can
only imagine what goes through his mind during it and if I were sitting there
crying it would only make it more difficult for him. So I chose to go home.
On my way home I missed the ferry. The Strawberry Festival was going on and this was the time
that everyone had choose to leave.
I wasn’t the only one. I
was the Fifteenth car left behind and there were at least 30 more behind
me. I just took a walk and called
my friend and chatted with her for a while. When I did get on the ferry I walked around. This young lady came up to me saying,
“Mrs. Bradley.” I acknowledged
that it was me and she could tell I didn’t remember her. She told me her name and that she was
only in my advisory this past year.
That means I only saw her a few times and for only 20 minutes each
time. But I did remember her as
soon as she told me her name. I
could even tell you what seat she sat in and that she missed several days. We had a nice talk and I told her a few
times that I was so happy that she came up to me. Kids are great!
Monday I had to get up super early to be in Shelton at 6:45. I was heading the registration for the
Ridge Racing School. So much to do
for this. I had a helper, which is
really needed. Scott was
instructing and he was very busy.
I left at lunch and went home to take Princess for a walk
and to head off to Camp Goodtimes again.
They weren’t supposed to have Arts and Crafts that afternoon but when I
got there they had it. The entire
schedule was changed because some mixed up and a group that was going to do
juggling with the kids wasn’t going to be there. The schedule for the entire week had to be revised. I just jumped in and helped. One little boy shared his knowledge
about whales with me. One boy had
me draw him a cat. They had all
kinds of things going on.
At dinner Richard sat next to me. I sure enjoyed his company. As I left the dinning room I saw the totem pole. It’s the one where they put a picture
of all the kids who have past.
Kathryn’s beautiful smile was there. I would like to share a picture of it with you but not sure
how legal it is since there are other campers on it too. Maybe I can get the part of just
Kathryn so you get an idea of what it would look like.
After dinner the kids all broke up into teams for Goodtimes
Olympics. The teams are a mix of
girls and boys and ages from 7 to 16.
They had to pick a team name and design a flag. It was a big nylon flag that they had
to decorate. We had to put together
supplies from Arts and Crafts for them to use and set up a station for the
supplies. Then afterwards the
teams carried their flags up to Arts and Crafts to hang them on the close line
to dry. It was fabulous. I stayed and helped with some final
cleaning and got all the stuff back to the Arts and Crafts shed with help from
one of the girls. They have a sign
that hangs above Arts and Crafts that reads, “Kathryn “Panda” Bradley. Thanks to all of our friends and family
who donated to Camp Goodtimes we were able to chose how we wanted her to be
remembered there. She loved Arts
and Crafts.
After cleaning I went off to Casino Night. I was calling out numbers for BINGO and
the teacher came out in me.
Instead of calling straight up numbers I would call B (9 times 3). The camper sitting next to me was great
at getting the right answers. She
told me after that math was her favorite subject. We all told her how good she was at math and that made her
feel so special. I guess Richard
was calling our numbers for tables to go to the salad bar. He said things like all the prime
numbers, all the odd numbers, all the even numbers. The teacher in you never leaves. Richard was in charge of a game called Zombies and
People. And later he shot me with
the nerf gun. They had three
activities each for a different age group, Casino Night for the older kids, a
concert for the younger kids and Zombies VS People for the middle aged
kids. They all were having such
fun.
Headed home on the 10:00 ferry. I was the last car on.
Didn’t cut it as close as on the way over. I must have been super tired as I slept all the way to the
alarm. Yeah!
Today is Tuesday and I walked at 7:30 am with my
friend. Princess did great. I wrote this and cried my eyes out as I
do every time. I’m dried up now
and will go out to paint. It is a
beautiful day. I hope you all get
to enjoy this sunshine.
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