"Take Me Home!"

I had no idea what to expect in my first year as the Youth Director of CEF.  All I had in front of me was the names of thirty young people (I'd only met two of them) and a schedule of what the Summer Training Institute (STI) would look like.

I was still getting to know the staff and really didn't have a clue what I was doing.  I remember the day when we took the two hour drive to Simcoe, Ontario for STI and arrived at the facility.  From the car I looked around and quickly said to Charlene, "Take me home!"  I was nervous, maybe even a little scared.  Could I do the job? Would the teenagers accept me?

Thankfully it only took a few hours for me to settle in after Charlene left me all alone.  It was an amazing first summer with some amazing teenagers I still keep in touch with today.  It would be the first STI of many to come (this past summer was my 7th!).  

Our end of summer reunion (Welcome Home) was also memorable because it was the year of the massive rainstorm.  The CEF office (in Markham at the time) parking lot was flooded, cars were ruined and businesses waterlogged.