A Short CAMP Story, Plus Sundance 2011
August is always a crazy time for those of us who live and work in Rehoboth Beach. Good crazy, for the most part, and always interesting. Still, there are many long hours of work that go into making life good for the many visitors and residents of our little town.
Here at CAMP Rehoboth, August is a whirlwind of summer activity: publishing deadlines, meetings, events, and Sundance, Sundance, Sundance. One of the ways we deal with the killer summer schedule is to employ an economical approach to tasks and time. For example, bits and pieces of the following Sundance overview will show up in press releases, Constant Contact, on Facebook and on our web site.
Before I get to facts about Sundance, I’ve got a short CAMP story to tell.
For the past few weeks, my partner (and CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director and Editor of Letters) Steve Elkins, has been suffering terrible nerve pain in his shoulder from spurs in his neck. Steve’s pain, added to deadlines, a staff shortage here at CAMP Rehoboth, and the pace of August in RB, had left us both a little more stressed than usual. When a treatment opportunity suddenly materialized in Wilmington, we put Steve into Allen Jarmon’s hands, and off they went. I stayed behind to manage the Sundance Host and Sponsor calling and sign-up.
So, got the picture? I’m stressed, busy, and anxious about Steve. Suddenly, Mike Kelly, whose faithful volunteer service has helped us get through the last few weeks, bounded up the steps with the day’s mail in hand. “There’s something you should see,” he said.
“Is it good news or bad news,” I thought to myself.
It was good news in a poignant and beautiful way.
Earlier in the year, many of us were saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Billy Christian. Billy loved Rehoboth and he loved stopping by CAMP Rehoboth every summer to say hello and to make small donations in support of the work we do here.
The letter that Mike held out to me on that busy, stressful day was from the lawyers handling Billy’s estate, and it informed us that Billy had left CAMP Rehoboth $36,000. In the big scheme of things it might not be a huge amount of money; to me, on that day, it was monumental. After Mike went downstairs, I sat alone in the office I share with Steve, and the tears started to flow. They were tears of relief, sure, and sadness, too, as I remembered the gentle spirit that was Billy. Most of all, they were tears of joy at the unexpected gift that made Billy’s presence suddenly bright and clear and real.
Billy’s gift made a tough day for me suddenly miraculous. Moments after receiving it, I also learned that Steve’s procedure had gone well, and though still groggy from the sedation, he was on his way back to Rehoboth.
How are those two things related? They’re not, really, I guess. Except that in my memory they are now forever entwined. Neither is related to Sundance either, but all three of them are “wonderful, glorious and absolutely amazing!”
This year’s Sundance theme is, of course, The Wonderful, Glorious, Amazing Light of the Watercolor Rainbow, and the graphics are filled with watercolor splatters, brush strokes, and colors running and blending together. Though most of us are used to the rigid lines of the rainbow flag, life as we experience it is much more fluid than that.
Some days everything seems unrelated, and yet when we take the time to step back and look at the big picture, there it is: all the joys, the sorrows, the hopes, the sadness, the pain and suffering, the good days and the bad ones, the stress and anxiety, the wonder of friends and family, and, of course, a whole lot of love. All spread out in one big, messy wonderful watercolor painting.
Murray Archibald, Founder and President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth Beach.