Gideon goes to Camp

 by James

I woke Gideon up this morning at 5:00 and drove him down the street to meet a bus to camp. Camp is three hours away, in a circle of tents in an olive field near the beach and it will be several days before I will be able to drive out to join him. Last week, I gave him the option of staying home and coming late with me, or going alone. I half expected him to argue to not go at all, and I was prepared to let him do that. We went last year, and it was quite a struggle for all of us, dealing with heat and exhaustion and misunderstandings. But when I presented Gideon with the options this year, he simply shrugged and said he would take the bus early and I can meet him later.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "I can do that. It will be fun."

So, we started making plans for our little guy to go.

Things became a bit more complicated when some ladies in a government office downtown started giving me serious trouble regarding our residency paperwork and I had to make the choice to stay home an extra day longer to try to settle it. I told Gideon that instead of coming on Sunday night, I would have to come to be with him on Monday night. That evening he had a nightmare that he went to camp and I never came to get him.

And yet, despite these obvious fears and understandings of how difficult it would be for him, he still picked up his bags and walked down to the car with me to go meet the camp bus this morning.

When the "bus" arrived, the door opened to reveal an overcrowded van with kids sitting in each other's laps and a few smiling friends that I know do not speak English.

"You can find a place to sit and sleep a bit on the way," I said, giving him one last hug. "And I'll be there to see you in just two days, alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Dad," he hugged me back. "It will be okay." And then he climbed up the steps and disappeared.

This afternoon we got a phone call from a friend telling us that he arrived at camp safely, and we heard pieces of the adventures he had already been on that morning. And I could tell he was happy and excited for the things that would be happening next.

We hung up the phone and the four of us sat in the living room and kind of looked around at each other quietly. Finally, Clara spoke. "Life without Gideon is weird. I don't really like it." And then she sighed. "How does everyone else do it every day?"

It's a good question. How do any of you live your life without Gideon?

I guess it was about time we shared this little treasure with the world.