My first year at Summer Camp, and also my first year Volunteering. I was manning the VIP Parking entrance earlier in the morning around 8 – 9am. I was sleepy from the red barn the night before, but was ready and willing to provide my time. As I was helping out, I noticed an older gentleman with quite the beard sitting on the grass near the field (if you ever parked in VIP you know the one). He seemed to just be sitting there watching the cars roll in, minding his own business. I don’t know what compelled me, but I felt the need to talk to this man.
So during a lull in the traffic, I decided to approach him, and asked him how his Scamp experience was going. We hit it off immediately, he told me how he had been coming to Summer Camp since 2003, and has been coming every year since, with the exception of 2006. He told me how he used to be a Dead Head and traversed the country following the band in the 80s, and how he met the love of his life during that time period. He told me of his three children, and how it was the first year that he would be attending the festival with his youngest son (who was 19 at the time). He told me about how music was what helped him through the loss of his wife, as it was what brought them together in the first place. We talked almost through my entire shift (while I wasnt doing my work), he had so many experiences to share, that I could of talked to him the entire day. But alas he had to get back to his camp before his son and his friends woke up. This man had an impact on me. All his experien ces, and all his memories made me come to a realization, that may seem cliche..That if I always worry about the future instead of making experiences today, then I wont have many experiences when all is said and done. I don’t know this mans name, as I didnt think to ask (stupid me), but he is a person I don’t believe I will forget. (if anyone knows this dude, he had a scruffy brownish, slightly graying beard (I really hope this was a reference to Touch of Grey), and was wearing a blank dark baseball cap. Looked like he was in his late 50s/early 60s I would love to learn his name)
