Woodberry Forest

After a late night at the Quirk Hotel in Charlottesville watching Game 7 of the Brooklyn-Milwaukee NBA conference semifinals and Vanderbilt's 11 inning win over Arizona in the CWS, J.P. and I got up early and drove to Woodberry Forest School so I could drop him off at sports camp.  The drive was short and we made it in under an hour.

Woodberry Forest School - where J.P. will spend the next three weeks - is nestled in a bucolic 1200 acre campus of rolling, tree covered hills.  As we drove up the long, winding driveway this morning, we saw golfers on the 18 hole golf course to our left.  To our right, we saw a variety of athletic fields - baseball, several football fields, soccer, and lacrosse.  You name it, they play it at Woodberry Forest.  

J.P. really didn't seem nervous as we parked my truck and began to unload his gear, with the help of a couple of rising juniors at Woodbury Forest School.  When they learned J.P. had been assigned to the "North Carolina" team - all of the teams, within cohort groups, are named after an ACC school - the boys smiled.  "You'll love your coach," one of the boys said.  "He's really cool."  

The coaches, akin to camp counselors, are college students and graduates of Woodberry Forest.  As far as I could tell from the bios on the website, all of the coaches are athletes who played one or more sports at Woodberry Forest.  Some play college sports.  A perfect match for J.P., given his love of sports.

First, we dropped off J.P.'s sports equipment - tennis racket and baseball equipment bag - then we checked him in and another young man helped us carry his suitcase and duffle bag to his dormitory room.  It was spartan, as I expected.  Two boys to each room.  Two single beds, low the floor, and matching plain, nondescript dressers and small desks.  

At my suggestion, J.P. quickly unpacked his clothes and placed a few books on the dresser.  His roommate, with whom we're acquainted but don't know well, is from Nashville also and is at Ensworth Middle School.  J.P.'s friend, Cecil, will be in the room next door to J.P.  Cecil's dad, Giles - an alumni - gave us a quick tour and showed us the bookstore, where J.P. stocked up on Woodberry Forest swag.  Hat, pullover, etc.

I left a little while later, a little after 11 a.m., as J.P.'s North Carolina team was gathering together as a group for the first time.  They walked by us, boys of various ages and sizes, a few wearing baseball caps, like J.P.  I gave J.P. a final hug, walked with Giles to have a look at the basketball court, then got in my truck and slowly, ever so slowly, drove down the driveway and pulled out to begin my nine hour trip back to Nashville.

I stopped for coffee in Charlottesville at Shenandoah Joe's, so I could get some caffeine in my system and collect my thoughts.  So, here I sit, coffee finished and thoughts, for the most part, collected.

I'm excited for J.P., of course.  What could be better for him than to spend three weeks away from home, playing sports all day long, and making new friends.  I think he'll enjoy himself immensely.  

Still, three weeks away with no J.P. will be strange.  I'll miss running with the Kid, as I call him when I log my runs in my running journal.  Fortunately, the website is updated daily with blog posts and photographs, so we should be able to keep up with how J.P. and the rest of the North Carolin team are doing.  That's the plan, anyway.

As I told J.P. over dinner last night, experiencing new things and getting out of your comfort zone helps to form who you become, and who you are, as you get older.  We're shaped, in many ways, by our life experiences.  

I think J.P.'s experience at Woodberry Forest over the next three weeks will have a profound impact on who he is in this, his summer of change and change and transition.  First, camp, then a new school in the fall.  

My boy is growing up and I'm damn proud of him.