Until last July, Morgan Thomas didn’t know what it was like to run around a backyard that seemed to have no end, how it felt to swim from the moment she woke up until it was time to go to bed or that you could walk around a city without brushing shoulders and elbows with thousands of people.
The 10-year-old from Queens got the chance to experience all that and more when Missy Simpson and her family invited her to spend a week with them at their home in Ballston Spa as part of the Fresh Air Fund.
This year, Thomas came back to spend her spring break in the country and said she can’t wait to come back again.
I was excited but not really nervous. This family is very nice, it’s hard to explain because they’re just nice, nice, nice, said Thomas. `I like them because they’re who they are and they like me for who I am.`
Simpson has two stepchildren, 14 and 16, who immediately formed a bond with their younger, surrogate sister. Thomas had her own version to share.
`As soon as I saw those kids, oh it was over! They got along with me and it was like we knew each other for years,` said Thomas. `We played games, board games, went out places. It was wonderful, perfect and I’ll come back all the time.`
After her first visit last summer, Thomas was ready to return to the simpler life as soon as that Christmas, but her mother was worried she’d get stuck in a snowstorm so they waited until the weather got warmer for the reunion. Simpson took Thomas to the Great Escape, on walks around Saratoga Springs, had picnics, taught her to swim and let her run around with the dogs. More than giving a little girl a break from the big city, Simpson said she hoped to provide a life changing experience, in some way.
`I wanted to have a nice connection with her and to help keep her on the right track. I work at Skidmore so we took her over there and it was the first time she’d ever seen a college before. She was really excited about it and I think that’s so great,` said Simpson.
The chance to make a new relationship that could last for a lifetime is why Lynn Chertok became a host family eight years ago. Her Fresh Air child, QuashE Davis, formed a bond that first summer and has been coming back for two to 10 weeks ever since.
`I was really nervous but excited at the same time. My mom wanted me to see the different types of people I can know and expand the world more; now I know I can meet new people and not be shy every time like I was before. I can trust people,` said Davis, 12 and from the Bronx.
Chertok has a 13-year-old daughter and said at first, there was a bit of sibling rivalry and jealousy between the girls. Now, Davis is part of the family.
`The girls knew that first trial was a two-week adventure and they had to make the best of it. Then they clicked and became the best of friends and still are now; they email and text all the time and we talk to [Davis] on the phone frequently,` said Chertok.
Both the host family and the Fresh Air child take something away from the experience, said Chertok, who said she felt her home in Porter Corners was the perfect place to blend cultures.
`It’s a lot of sharing of different views and ideas and seeing a different side of the world. We happen to practice the Jewish religion and [Davis] is Baptist so she interacts with our different families and religions,` said Chertok. `We’ve been through it all together, from graduation parties to funerals.`
Davis said she was excited when the Chertok family got to meet her own in the Bronx two years ago. She said her parents are happy she can have a second family and a different environment to visit.
`It’s relaxing here because it’s really quiet and I don’t have to move around every five minutes. We ride our bikes up an down the street, take walks, swim and just have a lot of fun. They’re pretty goofy, so it’s a good time,` said Davis.
Patty LeRoy said she encourages new families to try out the Fresh Air Fund. She’s been hosting for 44 years and is now a chairperson and fund rep, meeting with new families to answer their questions and organizing events.
She said the lifelong relationships are perhaps the biggest perk. This February, she went to New York City to visit with a boy she took in when he was five`he just turned 38.
`Just treat the kids like your own and you’ll get so much more out of it than even the kids do. A lot of times kids take everything for granted but they are so overwhelmed when they come up here and your backyard is the size of a park. They appreciate these little things,` said LeRoy.
Families with questions can call LeRoy at 885-9505. The next bus trips from New York City are July 2 to 16; July 20 to Aug. 3; Aug.9 to Aug. 19.
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