One of my favorite things about Ferncliff is meeting new people. I love overhearing campers talk about their new best friend at camp (whom they just met earlier that day), seeing summer staff bonding over the first few days of staff training, or hearing stories about two conference participants who kept in touch after their first meeting and look forward to seeing each other at the next one.

There’s something about Ferncliff that seems to invite warm camaraderie. I’m not sure what it is. Some kind of comfort found here? Maybe the lovely peaceful setting? Perhaps the welcoming and inclusive environment we strive to provide? Maybe a combination of all of those things! At any rate, Ferncliff feels to me like a “relational” place – the kind of place that encourages friendships and connections to blossom.

Recently I heard a story of wild coincidences from my friend Kristen Sommerfeld. Many of you might remember Kristen from her year as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) at Ferncliff; she spent 2017-2018 at Ferncliff as our farm and garden steward. Kristen is now a student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

This past February Kristen traveled to Cancún, Mexico to attend a music festival featuring female musicians, hosted by singer Brandi Carlisle. One of the highlights of the festival was a concert stage that was in the water of a lagoon by the beach. At one point, Kristen was enjoying the water by the stage and chatting with some nearby folks, and she heard another woman say that she had lived in Arkansas for a while.

Kristen said, “I lived in Arkansas for a year! What were you doing there?” The woman said, “I was in school there. How about you?” Kristen gave a brief description of the YAV program and eventually said, “It was at a place called Ferncliff.”

The other woman said, “No way! I did my internship there!”

Turns out, Kristen had met Bess McGeorge – a former intern at Ferncliff back in 2004! David Gill, our executive director back then, provided a pic of Bess from her time at Ferncliff. Bess worked in youth development, and has since moved to Chicago, where she works in youth environmental education and does standup and improv.

What are the chances that these two folks would meet like this? I loved hearing this story because it exemplifies that relational part of Ferncliff that I value so much. Even after you leave Ferncliff, those connections and ties will stay with you. And you’ll continue to encounter them throughout your life.

Who knows where you’ll meet a new Ferncliff friend? It might be at camp this summer. It might be at Family Retreat Weekend. It might be a fellow summer staffer during training. Or it just might be in the middle of a lagoon in front of a floating concert stage at a music festival in Cancún!