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| Matt and Aaron in 2009. Pre-birthday shenanigans. |
For me, summer of 2012 at Camp Foley seemed like it was
filled with a lot of empty birthday wishes. In a matter of two months, I went
from being a thriving, young 19 year-old counselor to an old geezer somewhere
between the ages of 50 and 80.
Allow me to elaborate. On a fine Foley morning, my good
friend and assistant director, Aaron Nelson, decided he would play a practical
joke by telling my campers to sing me happy birthday as a wake up call. Not
only did they sing happy birthday, they made sure to remind me that it was,
indeed, my birthday. I’ll let you in on a little secret: my birthday is in
December.
Maybe Aaron was trying to be thoughtful, “Matt Carney never
had a birthday at Foley, maybe I’ll give him 50 of them!!” And so the wishes
continued. Day after day, campers would say “Happy Birthday!” and I would say
“thanks” or “it’s not my birthday!” Nobody got the memo. The wishes became so
real that Aaron actually convinced me Candy was baking a cake for my cabin.
Unfortunately, the cake never came.
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| Campers Mary Grace Schuler and Megan McGuire collecting fish during sailing. Fourth Session 2012. |
As the sessions passed, my continuous birthday stayed
continuous. But as the wishes stayed the same, Whitefish Lake decided to give
me a new present. As many others can probably recall, the temperature of the
lake killed off a certain species of fish, which collected in thousands upon
the shore. The Marina and Swim dock became a disastrous place for water
activities. At one point, there were so many fish that the JY’s racing class
had a competition to see who could collect the most fish in their boat.
While many of the counselors and campers saw this as an
opportunity to be on the land, Mr. Nelson saw this as gold mine for his cruel
joke. At the peak of the fish infestation, Aaron had the majority of the
campers join in singing happy birthday to me while gathered on the benches.
After lunch had ended, I could hear the chant “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust”
erupt behind me. That day would officially be my unofficial birthday.
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| Matt as a cabin counselor for Kadigomeg. Third Session 2012 |
A few of the Wolf boys grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. As
the chant continued, I was dragged to the swim dock to face my wet and fishy
doom. I walked down the stairs and turned around to see several counselors with
giant grins, ready to toss me on the count of three. I lied down at the edge of
the dock and let the counselors grab my limbs. The only thing I could do now
was embrace my destiny. And so it began: “ONE... TWO... THREE!!!!” I was airborne. As time seemed to
stop, something inside me was changing. I hit the water and euphoria came over
me. Even though I never had a birthday at Foley, all of my dreams had come
true. A “Foley Never” had become a “Foley First.”
As I opened my eyes to observe my fishy comrades, I realized
that all of the empty birthday wishes were not empty at all. They were signs of
love and affection. I had people around me that cared for me and supported me,
but it wasn't only me. Everyone at camp has it because it’s what camp is all
about. At Camp Foley, it’s everyone’s birthday every single day. Even if you
might not be turning a year older, every camper and staff is treated with the
excitement and joy similar to the way they would be treated on their
birthday. To me, that’s what makes camp
great.
To conclude this elongated tale, I raised my head out of the
water and did what any wet, grimy counselor would do: run after campers. So I
jumped out of the water, and sent the kids screaming. On this fine day, nothing
could stop me from having fun.
