Wendy Johnston was among a group of gals that included Kim Littlejohn, Dorinda Dohner, and Amy and Mandy Angle, with whom I attended two weeks of Eco-Adventures camp at Woodland Altars in 1985 and 1986. Although we were friendly during our first year of camp, she and I along with others formed a cohesive bond and became an inseparable clique during the second year. She, Mandy, and Darin Anderson were all in my group counselled by Brian Bohlander and Gloria Landis, so we had ample time to spend together that week.
Wendy was a very cute girl (seen at right in the above photo – along with me, Kim, Mandy, and a relatively hidden Darin), with hair so blonde it was nearly white, and a beaming brace-face smile. She was also a lot of fun to be around as I attempted to entertain with my offbeat humor. Although she was two years younger, thus thirteen years old during our second year of camp, I guess you could say there was a crush there. She was remarkably ‘together’ for a young teenager going through the awkward age and I admired her spunk and sense of humor.
In fact, unlike any of the other girls from camp with whom I only exchanged a few letters, I kept in contact with Wendy for more than a year after camp. Of course the entire group of us met up in the girls’ hometown of Troy after camp in that same Summer of 1986 . We hung out between the houses which were all in the same neighborhood. One location we visited was Wendy’s basement and she will tell you that some of let off cherry bombs or firecrackers or something of that nature, whizzing one right by her head, and invoking the wrath of her angry father, but my selective memory only recalls some harmless little ‘poppers’ being detonated. The photo at the top was taken in our friend Kim’s backyard during that afternoon visit.
But even beyond that mini-reunion, Wendy would often stay with her Grandparents in Dayton and although we never met up (neither of us drove of course), we had many long phone conversations during which time I began to feel the part of Wendy’s big brother, chatting about the trials and tribulations of growing up. I really enjoyed our talks and looked forward to the day when we could meet up again.
I think it was about the Fall of 1997 when we actually did meet up once again – albeit very briefly. We arranged to be at the Upper Valley Mall (in front of the Piercing Pagoda – odd the details that one can recall) at the same time – she with her friends, I with my friend Jeff. It had been over a year since we had seen one another, and when you are a mid-teen, you change quite a bit. We barely recognized each other, both of us feeling awkward and a bit betrayed that the other had changed so much. Such is life for the gangly teen.
Todd and Wendy
But that pales in comparison to seeing Wendy again on Saturday, June 28, 2008 – now more than twenty years since we had seen each other. But his time there was no surprise or disappointment (at least on my part), as Wendy was now a lovely woman, with a great husband, two fabulous daughters, and a wonderful personality. Jackie and I met up with Todd and Wendy Bair at Buffalo Wild Wings in Troy following our day’s adventures in Fort Wayne. We spent nearly two hours chatting about the old days and the new days, vacations, jobs, kids, marital history, the other kids from camp, and how to plan a future reunion.
I’ll admit it was hard to reconcile that this was the same young gal in the earliest of her teen years who I once knew, but as a surrogate ‘older brother’ figure, I couldn’t help feeling proud of how well she had done for herself and family.
2008 will continue with the next reunion…
That’s so AWESOME. I always thought I would marry my first camp crush…though there was actually a posibility…luckily, he married before I met Rob…and lucky for me because I wouldn’t be married to such a GREAT family!!
Amber
July 12th, 2008
Oh my gosh Brad, that is the song that I was named after! “The Association” was special to my Mom and Dad for some weird reason, but the song describes my physical nature to a tee (even though my mom had jet black hair and eyes, and my father a fiery red-head). What nice things you say, I’m blushing. Hopefully next reunion I won’t be 30lbs overweight and exhausted! Maybe it’s all the beer. Cheers!
Wendy Bair (Johnston)
July 23rd, 2008