I spent rather a lot of time in the spring fretting over Chase, knowing that he was feeling reluctant and anxious about going to work at Aspen Grove. I knew deep down that what he needed was to just get there, get started and get past his first week or two. I couldn't deny that those first few days or maybe weeks were probably going to be rough, and I wasn't wrong. I think Chase did okay on his first few days because it was all training and he was just getting to know people. However, he only had a few days of training before the staff had their first weekend with guests and as I predicted, it kind of sucked.
Troy and I got some some texts from him that first Saturday that made us feel so sad for him and worried too. It just stunk, and even though we had expected that, we really felt for him. We had already told him that he was free to come home as often as he had free time. Indeed that first Sunday, even though he couldn't leave until mid-morning and had to be back that night, he was desperate to come home. We went and got him, and were glad to have the driving time to hear all about how things were going. The best parts were that his second meal service on Saturday was much better than the first, and he actually spent almost all his time telling us funny stories about getting to know other staff members. However, he sure did not want to go back that night, and the only thing we could think to do to cheer him up was to put on Jurassic Park with the speakers plugged in and the volume turned up. It actually helped a lot.
As Chase came home over the next few weeks, he got less and less reluctant to go back. Plus we got more and more stories about the friends he was making and the fun stuff they were up to. He seemed to find a group to hang out with pretty quickly, and before long we were getting stories about overnight Harry Potter movie marathons and late-night star gazing parties and a lot of hammock time. The only thing that seemed to be lacking was sleep, which he seemed to catch up on only on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings when he was here.
He began talking about staying at camp over a weekend, which was funny because it's what I was hoping he would start to feel but at the same time I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to see him. Of course, I shouldn't have worried about that because he always seemed to be in need of something or other so I continued to make weekly trips to Provo. Then one weekend we had friends come to town and Chase was really torn about whether to stay with his friends for a weekend sleepover party or come home to SLC and he chose the latter. He felt like he really missed out and told us that he pretty much didn't think he'd be coming home again for the rest of the summer.
The weekend after his last SLC visit his Aspen Grove friends were planning a rather big adventure. They decided to hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos on Friday night, sleep by a lake, then summit in time to watch the sunrise. I ended up making another trip there to deliver a carload of camping supplies and was happy to give him a hug and wish him well. I was a little nervous about this adventure but that's because I'm the mom and that's what I do.
I know he basically got no sleep, I know they started later than they meant to, but I also know that from all I heard about it, it was just about the most fun Chase has ever had. He just absolutely adores his friends. I know he still doesn't especially love his job, but he seems to love the camp and he loves being a part of the team.
Now I'm just fretting about how sad it will be when he has to leave!
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