I have really missed my youngest daughter, Diana, this summer. Diana finished her first year at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in May. In early June she left for a summer counseling job at Camp Arcadia in Casco, Maine.
Dianas full summer job away from home took me my surprise. Diana is Ellen’s and my youngest child. She is our baby our little homebody. We got used to having her home alone with us while her brother and sister were away at college. Then out of the blue Diana announced that she was applying for a camp counselor position at an all-girl summer camp in Maine. She completed the application, secured reference letters, conducted a phone interview all on her own. She then researched air travel costs and booked her flight out and back. All this by herself from our little Diana!
As I look back on it I realize that Ellen and I, along with our extended family, church community and our school system must have done a pretty good job raising Diana. She clearly learned the skills necessary to reach out in the world and get done what needs to be done.
Diana comes home on August 20th. I will be really, really glad to see her again. We keep in touch mainly by snail mail, but she phones Sunday evenings. She has had a wonderful time working at this camp. The middle school age girls have been great to work with and she has experienced an entirely different part of the United States.
But I want her for a bit back home before she leaves for college again.