In the gorgeous senior photo at left is Amy Meredith. This photo was sent to me following our last year at Camp Woodland Altars together. Amy and I had attended Youth Camp together in 1987, 1988, and 1989. We were in the same group led by Kevin Dull and Judy Yoder in 1988. She was always one of my favorite people in the camp – smart, pretty, kind, and with a great sense of humor. I’m not sure how her judgement was though, because apparently she seemed to be fond of me as well. On the back of the photo, she wrote:
Brad ~ Thanks for always keeping me laughing! It’s a lot of fun being around you!! Never forget all of the great times at camp because I’ll never forget you. You’re one of a kind!! Good luck in your Senior year! Keep in touch and send me a senior pic of you and your beautiful eyes. ~ Lots of Love, Amy.
Amy radiating that natural warmth at Woodland Altars
Amy, Brad Boehringer, me, Tonya Ball, and Jessie Wolfe at camp in 1989
Amy and me – quite a while ago
Unfortunately, neither one of us did a very good job at keeping in touch. After camp, I did see her once again – riding a shuttle at Wright State University in the Fall of 1990. We said some cordial hello’s and then I didn’t see her again for twenty years.
She was one of the the top people I had hoped to locate when I started my ‘reunion’ initiative back in 2007. But as luck would have it, I drew nothing but blanks in my search for Amy – even though I had figured out that she was married and now going by the name Amy Long. But as often happens in my life, the fates intervened.
In February 2009, I reunited with another former campmate, Kim Littlejohn. During our discussion of tracking down other campers, she mentioned that she taught at Troy Christian Elemetary with another former Woodland Altars attendee. Ironically, she never knew Amy Meredith from camp at all, and only met her later when they began teaching at the same school. This helped put me in touch with Amy and soon enough we became friends on Facebook.
Our reunion didn’t take place until the very end of the year. On Tuesday, December 29, 2009, Amy, her husband Chris, Kim, and I all met up for dinner at El Toro in Huber Heights. Over some delicious Mexican dishes, we had some great conversation about teaching (Amy is a fifth and sixth grade teacher), children (she has one daughter and a stepson), life in the country, and the occasional memory about Camp Woodland Altars. It was great to finally see Amy again, who obviously has lost neither her beauty or charm, meet her husband Chris, and of course see Kim again who I am in frequent contact with.
Kim, me, Amy, and Chris at El Toro
Amy and Chris
The thumbs-up pose is an inside joke – referencing the gesture that Kim gave Amy just an hour earlier, causing Amy to laugh and consequently nearly choke to death on her Mexican food
Amy and me. I think I’ve changed more than she has…
I am sure we will all be meeting up again – and hopefully this time it won’t take twenty years.
Continue into 2010…
Continue to the next reunion…
Blond Rik Ocassek in Cheap Trick shirt
eric flinn
January 10th, 2010
Wow, you have a really good memory! Brad, you are a great writer; thanks for sharing this!! I definitely don’t feel worthy of the compliments! You made my day!
A 🙂
Amy Long
January 11th, 2010