There has been one thing I have always been able to rely on. There has been one consistent place (other than my parents' house) I can always go to. There is a big family that is always waiting for me, no matter where I have been living or at what stage of life I have been in. Michigania has been an incredible source of home, love and normalcy in my life.
In 1978, two really important things happened. 1) I was born. 2) My family found out about Michigania.
There was this family camp for University of Michigan alumni, "up north" in Michigan. My parents heard about it from my mom's cousin. It was a week of rustic cabin camping - three families in a cabin shared one bathroom, not including a shower. You had to walk to the shower house. By the time you came back, your legs were so sandy, you might as well go back. We ate in the dining hall. There were a few main course options, a dessert, a bug juice machine and maybe a vegetable here or there. We had fun all day. Little kids could go to the nursery to have their own camp experience, and parents played tennis, sailed (well at least mine did), swam, crafted, polished rocks, shot arrows or rifles, rode horses - and really enjoyed themselves. Older kids roamed wild and did whatever they wanted.
My family went for the first time when I was seven months old. We brought my older brother Jeremy (2) and my uncle Mark (14). I don't remember that year, but it seems like everyone had fun, because my parents kept going back. Kenny was born. Mark moved on. My parents told their friends about it. In the 80's we went with tons of their friends and their friends' kids. It felt like we knew most of the camp. Maybe 10 or 15 families were dental school friends or dental colleagues or just friends. I went every year until I had to go to Ramah for two months, and I took a few years off. My family kept going. Jeremy worked there here and there. Kenny went most years but also took a few years off when he went to Ramah for the full summer. There were 12 different weeks to camp, and after trying out 7th week with the dentists and maybe a few others, my parents settled into 4th week with our good friends, the Londons, sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. My uncle Mark came back with his wife and three kids.
After my full Ramah summers, I returned to Michigania in 1999 (I think) for a few years, even when I was working at Ramah, I negotiated this week of Michigania into my summer contract. Since then I have made it a huge priority in my life. I even negotiated it into my marriage. My whole family always shows up. My aunt, uncle and three cousins go each year, and together with my whole family, we all stay in a cabin together. I was able to go most years I lived in Singapore - one year I even surprised my parents, with the director's help. Not only did we make it a priority, but there were about 40-50 other families who went the same week as us who also made it a huge priority, and we all showed up year after year. Our camp family. Generally we were camp friends. We showed up each July as if no time had passed, caught up in a few minutes and then played volleyball, tennis, games, walked...the same stuff, year after year. There are always a few texts and conversations throughout the years. For each other's life events, we showed up. We celebrated at each other's weddings. When my brother died, our camp family was there. That first summer back to camp after Kenny died, the camp family held up my mom. We love so many people at camp, and we have spent this week together for about thirty years at this point - a huge part of my life (longer for my parents).
Since we had children, it was the best week of the year. The kids are SO happy. Grandparents read stories on the porch, played games, pitched balls on the hill outside our cabin. The kids dreamed about Michigania. They sang the songs on car trips. They talk about their first horse ride. They discuss which archery award they want to go for first next year. They talk about their camp friends and how they can't wait for that independence, together with their friends, walking all around camp, whenever they want, wherever they want. Playing in the volleyball court after dinner. Coming back to the cabin at the end of the day so so dirty with endless sand in their hair.
Camp is such special time with our family and our close friends. The Londons in particular, who lived across the street from us when we were little, and we still spend the week together each year. We kids were friends and grew up there, and now our kids are friends. It warms my heart when I see our children playing together - similar to how it warms our parents' hearts when they saw us playing together. And the relationships are intergenerational - we play games with all three generations. I truly love them all. And their family has other families that they're just as close to. Everyone has their fourth week families.
Matt and I made Michigania a giving priority. We always donated some money each year, since it was a place that was so deep in my heart. When my dad retired, we donated a bench in his honor at camp. When it was my uncle's big birthday, we donated a whole load of board games to camp. It was a source of only happiness and love for all of us. No matter what we're doing over the summer, we always organize it around Michigania.
Then. The world stopped. 2020. Nothing happened. Of course, that included Michigania. I truly wondered if life would go on without Michigania. We ended up going to my aunt and uncle's house on the lake that summer and driving by camp, and I couldn't help but cry. How could we not be there with all of our people, doing what we always do. For the last 40+ years!!! It broke my heart.
2021 it was a reduced crowd with vaccination requirements, masks and reduced activities, but we were back and so so grateful.
Then there was an announcement that camp could benefit many more Michigan alumni, and it was being enjoyed by too few. They were changing the registration process, and for 2022 you had to register the moment it opened and pay for the whole thing up front. This meant that people who aren't as tech savvy, people who had to be at work that particular day, people who got their U of M alumni association ID wrong by a digit, or people who don't have $10,000 on their immediate credit limit and at their disposal didn't get in. I heard that seconds after registration opened it was full our week (and many others). Processes from years past were thrown away, and whoever got in got in. It was a traumatic process for us all who have been there for years. We had so many discussions about how we want other people to enjoy it, but we also want to know that we can continue to enjoy camp. Can camp expand? Can there be more weeks? Can we take one year on with all of our people and then we all take one year off? Plus, confirmations come out in February some time, and summer camps on the east coast are mostly full by January. Summers aren't super flexible at that point.
2023 and 2024 brought many many people onto the waitlist, but in the end, most of our Michigania family usually got in, some at the last minute.
Now this year, nearly all of my Michigania family is on the waitlist. The whole London family. My good friends from camp and Michigan who have gone our week to be with our family for the last ten or so years didn't get in. Plus, the price rose so so much, that it is now cheaper for our family of five to spend a week in the Maldives or at a Club Med in Mauritius (both of which we did in the last few years) for cheaper. Yes, many people don't have to fly to get to Michigania, but we do - so add that to the price.
We find ourselves asking if it's worth the money. We find ourselves asking if we want to go if it's just our family and a few others, but not our usual people. We won't be able to play boggle at night with anyone. It would be a big focus on just a few people. The activities are still fun, but that's not why we go.
I get that things change, but this change is really a hard one for me. To not have the comfort and normalcy of camp during this time of transition in our lives, as we move back to the US, and in our country's government, is a hard break.
I also absolutely understand that this is a big problem of privilege. Wah wah we can't go to summer camp with our friends. But it's real for our family, and it's super disappointing.
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