I heard that this past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the movie Back to the Future. I did my own version of time travel this weekend as well. I wasn’t in a Deloreon but rather in my little Hyundai with Will strapped in the back seat. We headed north to Muskoka and spent the weekend at Clevelands House. (Formal travel review to follow tomorrow – A+++)
In 1987, (yes, as my sitter pointed out last night, the year she was born…ugh), I spent my first of two summer working there. As I drove up there with Will sleeping in the backseat, my mind was churning with amazing memories of those two summers.
I spent my days as a child supervisor (can you find me???) and my nights partying my ass off.
That first summer was a summer of firsts – my first away from my home as a ‘grown-up’; my first time living with other people in the same room, my first ..ummm first and my first heartbreak. Guests used to ask us all the time if it was like Dirty Dancing.
Well, there was no Johnny in the staff house and we preferred boat races to dance offs but the crazy drama was always there.
I walked with Will around the property and the amazing thing was, apart from the incredible new kids area (you current child sup’s have it made), it was the same – frozen in time – and I love Cleves for it. It’s amazing how a building (staff house); a dock (je-sus) or a song (Level 42 anyone?) – can just overwhelm you in memories.
I kept looking at the kids (and in an ‘ew’ moment, I was totally checking some of the guys out at the beach until I rememeberd that I wasn’t 17 anymore) that are working there this summer and had a mix of seething with jealousy and an ‘aww’ they have no idea how they will look back at those times.
The other thing I thought about as I walked with Will was that as much as Cleves has stayed the same, I have changed so much since then. I’m no longer the girl masking her insecurities with the over-the-top personality; I’m no longer the girl craving the drama; I’m no longer the girl picking the guys who will break her heart. Okay scratch that last one, somethings never seem to change!
So yes – while I was jealous of the kids who have no greater worries than will I get stuck babysitting on resort night; will I get past the bouncer with my fake ID or what bathing suit will I wear today – I was happy to be walking with my kid and taking it all in.
Sometimes it’s great to LOOK back but it doesn’t mean you want to GO back.
**Lets LOOK back here for a sec…
These were my FAVOURITE kids ever. They are now probably married, with kids older than Will. Feel free to knock me on the head with a two by four as that’s what it felt like to realize they are now 22 years old.
The incredible thing is after Will and I checked in, I heard the kids program people walking and singing the SAME Cleves song we used to sing to the kids. I smiled and wondered what hungover kid would be dealing with my boy the next day! (It was Steph she was awesome!!!)
Two questions for you.
A. Has an uglier dress ever been made than the one that I’m wearing in this picture?
B. Can you make lifelong friends in two months? Yup.
Awww you met your hub there! Sweet. We had a few of those….I think I thought I met my husband 4 times that summer…:)
So much fun!
For the record: yes I can pick you out in the picture, but then I had the benefit of knowing you back in the late 80s. *wink*
Reminds me of the time I went back to Kingston on a business trip and walked around the Queen’s campus…the memories all came flooding back in a rush, but it just wasn’t the same. I see now that, like you realized, it was ME who had changed, not Queen’s. Maybe that’s part of what makes those times so special…the fact that you really CAN’T go back (and wouldn’t want to, either).
*sigh*
Aaaahhh…Sara, that post took me back. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the summer I first worked at a lodge (it was Roselawn Lodge in Bala that summer and the next, and Elgin House in Port Carling the year after that). This summer also marks the 25th anniversary of the summer I met my (now) husband. Those summers were so amazing, fun, carefree, irresponsible, magic. And yet, though I’d go back for a day or two, I wouldn’t go back for good for all the beer in Muskoka!
p.s. I can’t be sure but I think one of those staffers in your boat races photo looks suspiciously like me. Perhaps it was Resort Night at the Inn on the Bay? Summer of 1989?