TLC Blog - Here Comes 50!

50 Things I Love About TLC

1. Soft serve ice cream! (And you thought I was going to start deep)

2. When everything goes still and everyone is lying down looking at the sky with a Gratitude Minute

3. High fiving a four-year-old

4. High fiving an 84-year-old

5. Campers and staff high fiving whatever-year-olds

6. Seeing campers hunched over thank you notes writing to staff between lessons

7. Seeing instructors hunched over thank you notes writing campers after a long day

8. Three Claps for the Three Crowns!

9. Working with instructors from 13 different countries and seeing the world differently through their eyes

10. Soft serve ice cream! (Look, some things just need to be listed more than once)

11. Watching a camper’s eyes light up when they finally get their racket on edge down their back and explode up with a powerful serve

12. Watching an instructor dance around and shout with joy when a camper gets their racket down on edge

13. Seeing a family camper child in their parent’s lap during Morning Reflections

14. Watching staff members fall all over themselves in morning skits and making campers (and themselves) laugh

15. GVS!!!!  (You knew I wasn’t going to forget that, right?)

16. Hearing a camper be brave enough to sing a solo for the first time in a Variety Show

17. Watching the room explode with applause when the camper finishes their song

18. Getting a thank you from someone who did not fit in elsewhere in the world saying TLC is the first place they felt safe to be themselves

19. Starting each day with the Thank You Bowl

20. Our “Creating Belonging in a Diverse World” retreat camps for rural and urban middle schoolers and chaperones

21. Seeing staff members go the extra mile and never ask for credit

22. Watching Barb Wilkinson putting Smiley Faces on rackets

23. Remembering that TLC started as an impossible dream inside Steve Wilkinson’s head that became possible.  And then became a reality

24. Soft serve ice cream! (Last time I mention it, promise)

25. Greeting campers as they arrive, nervous, and watching as staff members help them with their luggage and put them at ease the minute they step out of their cars

26. Working with leaders who embed the Three Crowns of Positive Attitude, Full Effort, and Good Sportsmanship into the fabric of everything we do at camp

27. Watching a 5.0 player give a soft shot to a little kid in GVS so the little kid could “beat” them and take their spot as champion

28. Seeing campers’ and staff’ faces as they read their thank you notes over and over

29. HOLE IN ONE ON COURT THREE!!!!!!!!!

30. On the hottest, muggiest day, seeing an instructor dig deep and teach a lesson as if it is the only lesson their campers will receive in their life

31. Watching a simple grip change change someone’s entire game (and outlook)

32. Watching a camper turn from a skeptic to a convert of focusing on what they can control and letting go of what they can’t as a guide for life and tennis

33. The unbridled joy of campers and staff singing the TLC round (I want to be at TLC….!)

34. VAPTRing the courts after a rain to get campers outside on dry courts as fast as possible

35. Working with a diverse TLC leadership team to make TLC as broad and deep and inclusive as possible

36. Finding out daily that when all are included, all of us thrive

37. Using music as a teaching tool at a sports camp (Steve Wilkinson’s unusual idea 50 years ago)

38. Second chances

39. Laughter everywhere

40. The willingness to be vulnerable

41. Learning to see outside our own world into the lives of others and bring compassion when we meet others

42. The generosity of donors who see the life changing impact TLC has on others and themselves

43. Staff members jumping into a Variety Show skit because a camper asks

44. Campers jumping into a Variety Show skit because a staff member asks

45. Hearing someone say, “TLC is my happy place!”

46. Hearing someone say, “I can’t wait for next year!”

47. The last Gratitude Minute of camp

48. Singing “Serenity” to ground us

49. Singing “The Joy That is You” to remind us who we are

50. AND, FINALLY…… (no not soft serve, fooled ya, wait for it)….. THREE SLUSHIES FOR BREAKFAST! (Not me, a nine-year-old family camper whose only disappointment was that his dad wouldn’t let him have a fourth)