C’est la vie. Say Lavi

The expression, “you can’t go home again” embodies the idea that all too often certain moments in time, certain comforting feelings and certain warm, loving experiences, once past, can never be duplicated, recaptured or relived.

Last week my wife Janet and I returned to Camp Lavi in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania where, for nine seasons, Janet served as drama director (and I as a commuting, weekend husband) while our kids cavorted as happy campers.

As the guests of camp Director Joey Hoenig, his wife Jenny and Assistant Director Alan Berger, we were immediately taken aback by the new and updated facilities. Janet’s old playhouse was replaced by a 1,000-seat thespian’s dream house, while I, a totally non-athletic lawyer, was awed by the multiple courts of tennis, basketball, volleyball and handball, an indoor gym, hockey rinks, baseball and soccer fields and a two-acre paintball course, as well as a spinning class center and a myriad of other activities I, a devout lethargic, could only appreciate from a distance (and a rocking chair).

On the waterfront, (a lake and two swimming pools, not the movie) featured more boats than in the Spanish Armada, and included a fishing dock, as opposed to a golfing doc, though there is now a mini-golf course.

Meanwhile midst all this physical action, there is a thriving dance pavilion and an arts and crafts center in which (and through which) campers can find and express themselves through painting, nature, woodworking, ceramics, sculpting, jewelry making, beading and baking, not to mention “decoupage” and an on site petting zoo and a wide-range of intellectual pursuits.

Indeed, the Camp Lavi of 2013 is so new, so vibrant, so innovative and so up to date, that I began to question whether I, equipped with but old memories, could relate or connect to it.

And then I heard a young camper squeal with joy at her first home run, and watched an older teen speak earnestly with his counselor about the mysteries of life. I listened as the infectious enthusiasm of song spread through a girls’ bunk, and observed a group of waiters put down their trays and engage in Talmudic discourse. I couldn’t help but notice how fair play, sensitivity to nature and mutual concern and respect for others permeated every aspect of camp life, and how sportsmanship, scholarship and friendship blended together with devotion to faith, people hood and tradition. I felt an atmosphere infused with both happiness and joy, as lighthearted fun and serious purpose merged with challenge confronted and accomplishment achieved to forge confidence and self-respect.

Suddenly, I was in camp as I remembered (and idealized) it: a place to have fun in a relaxed atmosphere of camaraderie, but also a safe place to learn and grow and create memories to carry, not just into the fall and winter, but into the future and into your very being.

As I gazed about, I felt all the old, good feelings revive and join with some new accessories. Yup, this was Camp Lavi, this was summer camp, this was home and this was proof that you can go home again.

© Copyright © 2013 Ron Goldman

Ron Goldman is an attorney in private practice with offices in Cedarhurst and can be reached @ 1-800-846-9013