Communication sure is changing. Children used to send letters home from camp. Kat apparently is willing to do so if only I will send her a large enough envelope. (For some mysterious reason, Mr. Philately thought small ones would be good enough. He may have been judging from past years. Not sending letters home can be done just as well in a small envelope as in a large envelope.) But that�s not the first contact I received from camp.

No, she did not e-mail me. She probably does not know how to get to her e-mail account from a general internet connection. I should figure out how from my work computer and explain it to her. But, despite her protests that she does not really like or understand computers, she is more savvy than she thinks. Exhibit A is my guestbook in which there are messages to all family members.

But she did not stop there. I have more information than that. Although the guestbook does not alert me, she clearly knew that I would find the �real� albeit public letter. It�s in her diary of course! She has not posted in a long time but there was an entry there today.

In case you are wondering (or Kat is reading), yes I am sending books and envelopes this week. I will have to inform her that she reads faster than I can afford to keep her in books, unless I do better than I expect at Half Price Books next week or the week after. Luckily, she is not only a reader, she is a re-reader.

As for her social problems, I wish I could help. All I could do is listen anyway. It is hard being the youngest staff person, especially when the other people your age are all classified as campers and many have been coming to the camp for years. Never mind exactly how or why Kat ended up as staff. Suffice it to say that she proved herself to the right person under pressure and ended up being in on pitching the idea of a new position and they gave that position to her. Good work, and being in the right place at the right time, had a lot to do with it.

Now, the question will be how she handles the challenge. If I were there, I would point out that, as staff, she must be unfailing kind and reasonable toward campers, regardless of provocation. When the campers are your own age, I am sure that it is difficult but it is a requirement nonetheless. It goes with the title �staff� and the privileges. I also would point out that she will have to look among those older for companionship and hope it works.

As she says, the problem with freedom and independence is�freedom and independence.

Now, Kat, aren�t you glad we communicated?

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