"To see how 'I' and 'me' are just ways to say ‘us' and 'we'; to expand yourself to include others"
There’s a certain thrill in planning the “best summer ever,” whether that means an adventurous cross-country road trip, having a blast in camp as one of the cool staffers, or some exotic vacation destination. But sometimes the greatest opportunities are the ones that aren’t even about you. What happens when you spend your summer in the service of others?
In 2015, I was recruited by the then new Chai Lifeline Mid-Atlantic office to join the “Super Sibs” Big Brother program. I was paired up with a young, sweet boy who was born with a chronic illness. I would go to the boy’s house once a week, and take him out to places where we would have fun, hang out, and chat about brighter days. We went to Camp Simcha together, and spent a year of Sundays bonding — trying to give him some moments of joy in a world that seemed to be closing in on him. The following summer, Chai Lifeline offered me to come up to Camp Simcha as a counselor for another chronically ill boy. That summer turned into two, which was followed by a third, then a fourth and a fifth. Today, I have merited, baruch Hashem, to be part of the Camp Simcha experience for a total of six summers.
To be sure, the atmosphere at Camp Simcha is energetic, upbeat, and fun. But ask most staff members why they head back year after year, and they’ll let you in on a little secret: It isn’t the lush grounds, incredible food, custom swag, free vending machines, or the pristine lake — complete with speedboats and all — that keep them coming back. It’s the opportunity the summer provides us to be something bigger than ourselves, surrounded by others who are growing in the same way. To see how “I” and “me” are just ways to say “‘us” and “we”; to expand yourself to include others, taking “me” out of the focus of the bigger picture.
And they’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that. I once saw a waiter carrying steaming bowls of soup, and on the way to the tables, he noticed a boy, wired up with breathing tubes who looked like he could use a little cheer. The waiter safely put down the soup and broke out into a dance, his arms and legs flying all over, until the shocked boy finally flashed him a wide smile.
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