On Saying Goodbye and Saying Hello Posted on August 7th, 2015 by Neal Hagberg

Yesterday was the last day of summer camps.

We are saying goodbye.

And we are saying hello.

We are saying goodbye to our first summer without Steve. And saying hello to our commitment to continue, carry on, and expand the TLC vision he began and we believe in.

We are saying goodbye to the #7 rated dining service food in the country; and hello to cooking for ourselves again. (WHAAAAAAT?)

We are saying goodbye to the long hours of work; and hello to the long hours of naps. We are saying goodbye to our comfort zone of like-minded people who think the Three Crowns of attitude, effort, and sportsmanship, and the philosophy of accepting the things we cannot change and changing the things we can, can actually be applied in practical ways on the court and in life; and hello to a sometimes uncomfortable world that may be indifferent to these principles, where we might feel alone at times.

We are saying goodbye to a place of magic; and hello to a world that needs that magic and has us – campers and staff alike – as ambassadors facing a daunting, but possible, task.

We are saying goodbye to the look of happiness on campers’ faces when they get a stroke right, or a relationship right, in a new way for the first time; and hello to preparing for next year’s campers so they can have that same opportunity.

We are saying goodbye to scholarship campers whose lives have been changed by the generosity of strangers, and hello to raising funds again so more and more of these kids can experience TLC.

We are saying goodbye to GVS and the smile it brings to anyone who has ever heard the words ring out, “THREE! TWO! ONE!….”; and hello to the memory of that moment that brings back the same smile every time we think of it.

We are saying goodbye to the camper who said “Goodbye” to his old serve after ten years of not being able to let go and trust the same advice he’d been given for ten years, and then… he did ; and hello to next year’s camper who will be ready after twenty years to let go, trust, and switch her backhand. (Yes, we actually believe this is possible).

We are saying goodbye to the skeptic who arrived at TLC with suspicion (“What have these people been drinking?”) and left saying, “Hmmm, it tastes pretty good.”

We are saying goodbye to our attempt to change others; and hello to our recommitment to change ourselves.

Thank you for reading this blog and following along for the summer. It will be back in about a month and a half in some form or another. Or it won’t. One never knows. Goodbye. And hello!

And thank you.

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