I prefer the snail to your finger typing.

Sleep deprivation leads me to stay up longer at night for no apparent reason. However, this is when I do most of my thinking and writing. So, it works out well in the end. One night this week as a result of my unwillingness to crawl in bed despite my body's inner yearning for rest, I opened my closet door, reached for the top shelf, and pulled out a small rubbermaid jam packed with letters.

I blew a small trace of dust off the top, and pried the cover off until letters of every color revealed themselves for the first time since summer. Contained in this box were light, nonsensical letters, deep meaningful letters, colored dinosaurs, letters from friends back home, letters from friends at camp, letters from secret encouragers, getting to know you letters, letters that meant the world, and letters that meant next to nothing. Also kept in this box are a few of my favorite Staff growth handouts, and articles. I kept them all. These were a few things I went through.

Scroll upon scroll, and the tan envelopes used by this person after he ran out of scrolls. His letters were something I looked forward to every single day at one point of the summer. We wrote so often that we couldn't afford going through camps daily inter-camp mail delivery. This was time consuming, but worth it. I saved every single one, but let me tell you. Scrolls are hard to not completely squish.

Letters from Krista. Always a day brightener. Some were inter-camp, some were from home on the weeks she wasn't Jr. Staffing. Just to give you an example of how amazing this girl is, two summers ago we met because we did a week together on Jr. Staff. Our night off reflection got pretty personal, as they usually do, and I remember her reflection answer perfectly. It was everything I wanted to say, but was too scared to admit. Well, I thanked her for saying what she did and the next day she sent me a letter that said "Allyson, you are SUCH an inspiration to me." Goodness knows I didn't deserve that, I'd known her only for a matter of days.

We always seem to find our selves in similar situations, and I believe this is when we really started to bond. One of her letters ends with this passage that I'll share,

"We are hard-pressed on every side but not crushed;perplexed but not in despair;persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." 2 Cor. 4:8,9

Letters from a girl who happened to be hopelessly falling for a boy back home. She writes, "About a month ago, I was talking to (boy) on Fbook about how boring my job is. So he was all, 'Well you could text me...' So I was like, 'Well (boy), I'd need your phone number to text you...' So we started talking every day." In a different part of the letter she writes, "In church on Sunday, (boy) made this goal to actual talk to me. I was busy talking to tons of people, so RIGHT before his family was leaving he came up to me and was like,

'Hi.'

'Hi.' - Me

'Bye.' -Him

'Bye.' - Me

(but it was all cute and nervous and nerdy)"

I'll have you know, this boy and girl have officially been a couple for a few months now. ;]]

Matt's letter. This letter places in the top three of my summer. I read it again, and laughed even harder than when I received last summer. Filled with inside jokes, awkward rambles, and barely readable handwriting, this letter was probably one of the first he's written in his life. And I love him for it.

Risa's letters from back home, which made us realize we should have become closer a long time ago. Kim's letters filled with stickers for four year old's.

Letters from Hannah, the one I remember most had the sentence 'ALLYSON, MAKE ME APPLY FOR SALT STAFF' about ten times throughout the letter. This winter when I talked with her, she was hesitant, as she and I both knew she would be. However, I do believe her application is well on it's way. :]

A copy of the fox chapter from our Little Prince staff growth.

A letter I waited for.

A letter from two staffers who paired you up with someone else other than your prayer partner to answer a few unusual questions to get to know each other better. Mine was address to Adam and I. Adam, do you remember my favorite flower? Or how often I think about building tree forts? Or my perfect sock? I remember yours. But it says we had to come up with a secret handshake. ADAM, WE HAD A SECRET HANDSHAKE?! I cannot remember this, how could we forget this handshake. How can I remember your perfect sock, but not our secret handshake?!

...and many MANY more letters, drawn pictures, and muse from several different people. I love everything.

This was a longer blog, mostly for my benefit. Sorry if none of this means anything to any of you, I didn't really mean it to. Man, I'm selfish.

Rad: The fact that Autumn served T SWIFT yesterday at Starbucks.

Unrad: Making your son kill his hamster with a hammer for bad grades. Seriously.