Once upon a time, before the age of social media, and even
before the age of digital cameras, 13-year-old Kate went to summer camp. Not
just any camp, either. I spent three weeks during the summers of 1988 and 1989
at the
Joseph Baldwin Academy (for “eminent young scholars” – say that three
times fast!).
Three weeks with
about 130 kids from all over the country, living in dorms at what was then
Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State).
Three weeks away from home with
strangers sounded like a horrible plan to me when my parents first suggested
it. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.
 |
| me - circa 1989 |
You learn a lot about the people you’re living with in close
quarters over three weeks. And you make some amazing friends. You wouldn’t
think that three weeks would be enough time to make that big of an impact, but
this also predated email, and so when we all went our separate ways after the
summer was over, we wrote each other letters: pages and pages of letters. Real
letters. Certainly, if you know anything about me, you know how much I love
letter writing – it’s something I do not do nearly as much as I should anymore.
So, not only did we know each other from living together, we actually got to
know each other even more through the letters we’d exchange. I wish I’d saved
more of those letters.
 |
| Taline and me - 1989 |
The people I met at JBA are still some of the most amazing
people I know, and this past weekend, four of us met in Iowa at my friend
Andy’s farm for a reunion 25 years in the making. John, Taline and Andy are four
people that I’ve spent time with separately over the years: one went to college
near KC and we saw each other then, I was at the wedding of another in the mid
1990s, and thanks to Facebook, we’ve been privy to photos and snippets of each
others lives for the past several years. But, it had literally been 25 years
since the four of us had all been in the same room at the same time. I have to
be honest I was a little bit skeptical about this reunion. I have such
wonderful memories of these people and I wasn’t sure I wanted to change any of
that. What if we weren’t the same people? What if one of us sucks now? I mean,
25 years is a LONG time. Someone might suck.
 |
| John, me, Andy, 1989 |
I’m so glad I went and I’m super happy to report that nobody
sucked. My friend Andy has a lovely wife and six children. Six. I’ll be honest, I’ve never wanted more
than the two kids I have, but if anyone makes having six children look
appealing, it’s Andy and Laura Lynn. Opening your home to complete strangers
has to be a true test, and Laura Lynn made us all feel so comfortable in her
beautiful home with delicious food, drinks and plenty of good music – some even
played by their talented daughters.
 |
| Taline and Bronwyn Taline (yep, we even name kids after each other) |
If anything, I just wanted more time with these people. I drove home thinking about my time at
JBA – which I still regard as one of the best parts of my growing up. I laughed
thinking about the photos: our hair, our outfits, our awkwardness. (My friend Taline will argue we never
were awkward, but the photos tell another story!) I also got a little teary
thinking that I hope it won’t be another 25 years before I see these people
again. I wondered if we all lived in the same town if we would hang out. I like
to think we would. Finally, I just started thinking about my own children. I loved watching them play with the
children of my friends. I wish for my girls that they will be lucky enough in
their lives to find friends as good as mine. I wish for them that the friends
they make when they are kids are amazing enough to want to see them 25 years
later. I’m a lucky, lucky person to have John, Taline and Andy (and now Andy’s
wife Laura Lynn) in my life. I hope my girls are half as lucky.
 |
| John, Taline, Andy, Me - 25 years later. |
 |
| nerd offspring - JBA 2020! |
