May 6, 2015
Anna Birch
I’ve recently joined the ranks of being a mom to not one but TWO teenage daughters. There’s no greater reward and ego-leveler than parenting! There are probably as many parenting models, tips, and sets of advice as there are diet fads. Just when we think one might work, our child or society switches on us and we lose…
Just the other day, we had the sad occasion of one of our leadership team members unexpectedly losing a childhood friend. The Facebook post/tribute he wrote to this friend was vivid, beautifully written and it read as if the memories were as fresh as yesterday. However, he hadn’t seen this friend since their childhood. I…
Our family took a magical, adventurous, and once in a lifetime journey together to Arizona in December. One of the trip highlights was a descent into Glen Canyon. The hike was not for the timid and we took extra precautions throughout to “take risks” in a safe and controlled environment. Both subtle and obvious lessons…
It seems the older I get, the farther back in life I go to look at times I had it “all figured out.” Today I reflect upon one of my most treasured childhood memories and my first marriage proposal. I was 6 years old… As a child, well before WiFi was even an idea, we spent our…
As fate and luck would have it, Brian returned summer after summer to continue impacting the lives of youth as well as the lives of his colleagues. He grew in talent and the application of his teaching skills and passions were clear to all. At the beginning of one of his last summers with Adventure Links, he…
Unbridled joy… that’s what you get when you mix a snow day, ice-coated mountain driveway, and a run with a 10-year-old. My daughter’s face lit up when I posed the idea of going for a run on this icy day home from school. “This will be pretty funny, mom.” And it was. The laughter erupted…
Brian graduated to the age of our Teen Expeditions. His growth as a learner, a leader, and a contributor shone brighter and brighter with each trip. It was years later Brian moved the room giving a speech at the wedding of one of his Adventure Links mentors—there was not a dry eye in the house….
I had absolutely no idea just how many hundreds of lives would be changed with that fateful phone call on a beautiful Spring morning over a decade ago. It was a mother, an unbelievably committed, energetic, and wise mother looking for a summer camp program for her son. Little did I know that our conversation…
January 1, 2013
Anna Birch
Sometimes you just have no idea how powerful a role your child plays in another child’s life. It seemed like just another one of many play dates for my 5th grade daughter recently but this one ended quite differently! The light conversation with her friend’s mother quickly gained depth and speed when we began sharing about our…
December 18, 2012
Anna Birch
Sometimes it takes a dramatic or painful event to have realizations that pierce the veil of limited understanding. Here was one of mine… It was a beautiful June day and our facility was bustling with the return of staff and the arrival of brand new team members for another summer season. I was finalizing my…