Dear Chrysalis friends and family,
We feel so fortunate to write once again about the joys
and blessings of another year during this Christmas season 2011. Our spring
began with an international trip to Morocco with 9 girls and 5 parents. The
trip featured adventure in the form of a four day trek across the Sahara (with
camels), two long days of touring across the Atlas Mountains, four days of
service work at a youth shelter in Marrakesh, and plenty of cultural immersion
along the way. If you’ve never seen stars at midnight from the desert, never
bargained with the vendors in a world class market reminiscent of ancient North
Africa, or never smelled the gentle aroma of a string of camels, your life is
sadly incomplete.
Our runners were fantastic once again this year. About 12
girls ran the Bloomsday 12K Run last spring along with 50,000 other participants. One of our girls broke the one
hour barrier that separates great runners from the rest of us. It was a weekend
full of fun and excitement, as always. Five strong girls trained for and completed the Two Bear
Half Marathon in Whitefish in early September, our first entree into the world
of truly long distance running. And, a slightly different group of five brave
girls and two staff trained for our second annual “Freezer Burn” race, a 10 mile
run in 28 degree temperatures and snow this past weekend in Missoula. It seemed
like such a good idea in September. The seven participants felt proud,
accomplished, and somewhat frosted at the end of the race.
The summer of 2011 was as full and rich as it gets, from
the grandeur of Lewis and Clark’s Upper Missouri River to the great outdoors of
northwest Montana and Alberta. Aided by strong support from parents and staff,
our students once again tamed the trails around Bowman Lake in far northwest
Glacier National Park. The trail work was formidable, and the hiking a
challenge due to uncommonly cold and wet weather, but our girls prevailed in
the end. We did a service project for the U.S. Forest Service in our local Ten
Lakes Scenic Area in September, and otherwise completed about 1,350 total hours
of service work in and around the Tobacco Valley in 2011.
Chrysalis girls biked
around much of Koocanusa Lake with a handful of family members over Memorial
Day weekend, and another group camped and hiked in Alberta’s Waterton National
Park with parents and a sibling over Labor Day weekend. A group of six girls
and two staff backpacked in the Mount Henry area just west of Eureka in
mid-September to complete our overnight adventure trips for the year. We boated
and sailed on Flathead Lake most Saturday afternoons across the summer, per
usual. A summer full of rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, horseback
riding, swimming and boating left them all, inevitably, fit, unwound, confident
and ready for the mental rigors of school.
We completed a renovation on our previous school building
this past year, which is beautifully transformed into a lovely new clinical
space that houses all our therapists, and has become the venue for a variety of
groups and meetings each week.
Our soccer team overcame a slow start again this
year, but (as usual) finished very strong in October. The group of girls
matured enormously across the season; each individual on the team seemed to be
involved in a parallel growth process, which has clearly become the norm for
our soccer players. It was a joy to behold. We played each of our usual rivals
twice, and we were excited to be able to play our local Eureka coed team a
couple of times again this year. It was a soccer season that made us proud in
the best sense of the word.
We began a new era of Mother-daughter and Father-daughter
retreats this past year to insure that our parents are experiencing some of the
same first-rate adventure that our students enjoy every season. Mary and
several of our clinical staff led the first retreat with a group of Mothers in
early February, set at the Belton Chalet in West Glacier, just outside the
entrance to Glacier National Park. Moms and daughters did some XC skiing and
snowshoeing during the day, and then did some gentle relationship work each
evening.
Fathers got their chance in late June when 14 dads and
daughters journeyed to the Missouri River in central Montana to launch our
first Father-daughter canoe trip. We followed the Lewis and Clark route for
three days, complete with short day hikes and a bit of history. Each retreat
featured great adventure and focused time each day for critical family work led
by members of our clinical team. We can’t imagine a better way to bring parents
and their kids back together again.
Thanksgiving, as always, made all the extraordinary
preparation quite worth it. Family members traveled from the ends of the earth
last month, gathered together, and, as always, forged new relationships born of
a magical shared experience. The Chrysalis Thanksgiving tradition continues to
set the standard for heart-warming holiday cheer, deep gratitude, and cozy
connection every November.
We extend our most sincere “thank you” to all who
journeyed to NW Montana this year to join Chrysalis, whether for an adventure
trip or for a more sedate family gathering. We wish for each of you, no matter
what your faith or belief might be, a holiday season full of warm memories,
cherished friends, beloved family, and unwavering hope. God bless you each one.
With love at Christmas, Mary and Kenny
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