7/1/75 There’s this one boy that I think I like. His name is Billy Newman. I don’t know him that well though and a lot of girls like him. It’s just after breakfast. That was a pretty lousy breakfast. At this rate, I’ll lose a ton of weight. 7/2/75 I miss you a little! I think I might stay the whole summer! I know it’s only the third day, but everyone here is so "freakin’" nice! I feel like I’ve been here longer than three days. I feel like I know everyone. 7/3/75 Are nuts fattening? I’d like some cashews if they’re not. If they are, send up a whole bunch of soybeans! I know that soybeans aren’t fattening.

How does Ethan like camp? Tell him to write me all about it. I want a long, good letter from that kid. I love him and you’d better tell him so!! I wrote him a few letters! Did he get them?

 7/?/75 How’s Midge? Don’t forget to write about whether Ruffian or Foolish Pleasure wins the race. Also, write whether Billie Jean King or Yvonne Goolagong wins the women’s Wimbleton.

Billy and I built a schafka this morning…just us and we had a really good time. I wonder if he likes me?

 7/6/75 Remember that kid, Billy? The one I liked? Well, you want I should tell you my love life? Billy decided he liked Marcia and they’re seeing each other (what idiots). That means he didn’t ask her "out," but they like each other. Anyway, Marcia is scared of going too far. She’s a prude (excuse the word—it’s not really what I mean). So she’s treating him really badly. She ignores him, laughs at him, but she still likes him. Now I think I like this kid named Danny Leiner. I think he likes Lizzie though and she likes him. Another thing is my friend, Susan, used to go "out" with him and she’d be upset if anyone went out with him. So that ends that relationship! Oh, well. I’ll like him until he asks Lizzie "out." Susan likes someone else, so that really doesn’t matter.

A big thing up here is sticks. Like "You got hit with the ugly stick" as a joke. If you’re sick, you say "You got hit with the sicky stick." Daddy got hit with the summer stick. Get it? You probably don’t! You know… he loves summer, etc. (It’s not very funny!)

 7/7/75 By the way, if you didn’t get my other letters, I like a couple of boys. Billy and Marcia aren’t seeing each other anymore, so now I like two boys: Billy Newman and Danny Leiner. What am I to do? 

The senior boys have a stereo in their bunk and they turn the speaker to the window and play it loud as can be and so the whole camp can hear the music. It’s really great! I’ll show you when you come up.

I just got a splinter in my foot and my counselor, Judy, took it out. I’m in real pain. I gotta find some alcohol.

 7/11/75 I know that I wrote you a letter already today, but this is important—Everyone up here is a big Beatles fan. Everyone loves the Fab Four. I won’t get too corny! Anyway, on the second to top shelf on the right hand side of the shelves is a book called The Beatles. Please, please me and send it to me in the mail. Everyone here would love to read it. P.S. "Please, Please Me" is the title of a Beatles song. 7/14/75 I don’t like Billy anymore. Now I like this kid named Jimmy. He’s really cute. Billy makes me kind of sick these days. 7/25/75 Today was the greatest day! The 4-weekers are leaving on Sunday (lots of the inters are leaving). We had a banquet. The food was better than usual. The counselors served us and we didn’t have to get up for the food. It was really nice and everyone got dressed up. Then we (each group of campers) each put on a "cultural presentation." The cultural presentation was about Woman’s Year. We each got a different topid about women’s rights. The inters had the Employment of Women and Working Women. They were really very cute. The seniors did Women in Politics. It was okay. I’ve seen better. The workcamp was great! I made up one of the songs we sang. It was to the tune of "Deportee" by Woodie Guthrie. We did a few cute skits! But the CITs were fantastic, the best, great! They had Law, Religion, and Domestic. (Workcamp’s was Women in the Arts and Sciences.) They really were good. When I get home, I’ll sing you both the workcamp song and the CIT song.

By the way, Arlo Guthrie is gorgeous!

I’ve got a cut on the bottom of my right foot, right on the ball of my foot, so I limp around.

 7/29/75 Another thing happened today. This is important! Remember Peter, the kid who was supposed to leave on Sunday, but didn’t? I told you about him, didn’t I? He’s really nice! He has blond hair, curly, and blue eyes. He’s 5’3 1/2". He’s been really nice to me the past few days. Well, anyway, this morning his mother called and said that he had to come home today and she was leaving to pick him up at 9:00 am. Fay came up to me and told me. Then Fay, Marcia, and me had a talk. Marcia kept yelling at me to tell him that I like him and all that. Well, Jeanne and I walked to Joe Hill (it’s a bunk) and I was looking for Peter to talk to him. He wasn’t in his bunk. It was about 8:45 now. Then we walked into Emma Lazarus (another workcamp bunk) and started copying over the song "El Condor Pasa" by Paul Simon. Peter walked in and Jeanne said I had better talk to him now or she’d kill me. So I said, "Peter, could I talk to you outside for minute" and so we went outside!

Me: I really don’t know how to say this. It sounds so dumb. But I really like you a lot.

Peter: (silence)

Me: I don’t want you to leave today.

Peter: (silence)

Me: Well, I want to write to you and everything.

Peter: I want to write to you, too! Where do you live?

So I told him and I asked him where he lived. He said that he lived in New Jersey, but his father had a summer job in Suffolk County and so he lives in Suffolk during the summer. The conversation went on this way for a short while and then…

Me: I thought that it sounded pretty stupid. It just came out weird saying ‘I really like you!’ Did it sound stupid?

Peter: No! And you know what?

Me: What?

Peter: I really like you too!

JUBILATION!

Then my counselor, Judy, came looking. She said Peter’s mother would be later that she thought because of traffic. Drat it all! I told him that I hoped she’d never come. He laughed. I spent the next seven hours with him, from 9:30 to 4:30! We talked about everything and anything! He told me a lot about himself and I told him about me. We ate lunch together. We talked all through lunch. Neither of us realized when people asked us anything. All day I kept telling him not to leave. I kept telling him I didn’t want him to go. One time I asked him if he would stay. He said why can’t you buy a plane ticket to Florida. (Florida is where he’s probably going to see his dying grandfather. He’s probably going with his father.) He’s so, so nice! I love him. We talked all afternoon. Then he saw his mother up the dirt road. He went to meet her. It was 4:30 pm and she’d left at 9:00 am. He was really worried. Then he got all his stuff together and took some up to the car. Then he came back for the rest of his stuff. I was almost crying. Fay kept saying to me that everything was alright and she understands and all, but everything wasn’t alright, my Peter was leaving me. Mishy kissed him goodbye on the cheek and so did Fay. Then some boys shook hands with him and said goodbye. Then Mishy said to me, "Kiss him goodbye for Christ’s sake!" So I kissed him goodbye (on the lips) and he said bye and told me to write to him. Then he left. I started to cry on the way down to the waterfront… It’s about 11:10 pm and he’s probably home by now. I miss and love him.

P.S. I love Peter more than I love Danny Rooney! But not as much as I love Stefan Graff!!!!

 8/2/75 Well, today I hurt my right big toe really badly. So I was soaking it in warm water, sitting on a bench right near the rock outside our bunk. This guy, Reuben Farber, was sitting there too! He’s got a fractured ankle, so we sat there on the bench talking and not doing any work for the trip tomorrow… There was a styrofoam cup there and I started throwing pieces of it at him. He started throwing them back and we had a great fight for about an hour and a half… Reuben’s nice, kind, he likes me, and he’s less shy than Peter! Anyway, it got to be 9:45 and we all had to go inside to get ready for visiting hours. Then he "requested" to see me. So I went into his bunk! Nira, Marcia, Marc, and Fay dragged me into his bunk. I didn’t mind going into his bunk. It’s just that I was in the middle of a conversation with Jana. Anyway, guess what! I’m "going out" with Reuben! Two in one week, ma!
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