We picked Maegan up at camp yesterday. It was a three hour trip. We got there an hour early yet we still only managed to be the fourth car in line. Before the gates opened the line of cars was literally beyond sight down the mountain road. While we waited for the gates to open Darah pet the farm animals, including goats, a pot-bellied pig, and the world’s only <joke> “Appalachian Battle Donkeys” </joke>. We also watched from a distance as they launched model rockets into the sky as part of the final camp activity for the week.
Maegan had a great time at camp, but she still missed home. She said to Patty in a letter home, “be prepared, because I’m going to come flying into your arms as hard and fast as a bullet”. The pickup scene was a bit too crowded for a running start but Maegan was still quite happy to see us (especially Patty), and Patty was even more happy to see Maegan.
After signing out Maegan and packing up the car, we had a hunch to double check on Maegan’s friend Olivia who went to camp with her. We called her parents to ask if they were here in the car line, or still on their way. Good thing we checked because they thought camp pickup was the next day. So unexpectedly, and luckily for Olivia, we took an extra passenger home with us.
) But it’s not the equipment that matters as much as what you do with it. That little station with only a few employees produced a tremendous amount of media content, both for the public via cable channel 3 and internally for various school departments too. And the quality of our work was way above what you’d expect from your typical PEG channel. But the biggest difference was the people. I remember my first day of work there, Stephanie told me that everybody there was like a family. At the time I internally scoffed at that notion. No matter how big or how small a workplace is, anybody can give the typical “we’re like a family” line. But Stephanie was right. I’ve had plenty of co-workers at other jobs who were good friends but this tight-knit group really was more like a family.
