Four days later….

On Day 5 of camp, Katie awoke before the sun was up. She was disoriented by her unfamiliar surroundings for a moment, but then smiled to herself as she stretched and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Camp was turning out to be even better than she'd expected. It was inspiring to spend time with other people who shared her passions. The activities were fun and challenging, and with the encouragement of the coaches and other campers, she was starting to believe that her work really was good. It was something people had always said to her, but she was realizing now, at this camp, that she hadn't fully believed it. Now she did… she was changing.

She was changing in other ways too. Shane, the young, charming, Australian-born drama coach, had captured her attention. He was tall, dark and powerfully built, with an easy confidence and a great sense of humor. He was patient and kind with all the kids, even the shyest ones, and his sessions were definitely the most fun and interesting. Practically all the girls in camp had crushes on him, but Katie had caught him looking at her a couple of times. Maybe he likes me, she thought to herself for the hundredth time, or maybe not.

Katie sighed to herself. In her secret fantasies, on the last day of camp, just before everyone said goodbye, Shane would pull her aside and acknowledge to her that his innate sense of honor and responsibility had kept him from telling her how he felt about her. They would confess their secret love for each other, and would promise to stay in touch. They would date for a couple of years, and then they'd get married. They would have great careers in the arts – she as a painter, he as an actor – and later, they would start a successful academy for young artists. They would also have three adorable children, named Sarah, Christopher and Michele – with one 'L', not two. She shook her head and laughed to herself… her daydreams about Shane were ridiculously detailed.

But being at Camp Lilia was making her start to believe that dreams really did come true. After all, Katie thought to herself, being here was a dream in itself. She thought back over the sequence of events that that had led her to Camp Lilia.

A year earlier….

Katie was in her room, sitting cross-legged on her bed and struggling over math, when her mom knocked on the door.

'Hey Katie, how's it going?'

'Hey Mommy, you're home… I don't know, I'm so confused – I think I'm going to need some help.'

'Sure, but take a break for a minute… I brought someone home for you to meet. She's downstairs with Jack.'

Katie sighed. She always dreaded meeting new people – it was uncomfortable and awkward. She'd always been shy, and it seemed she was only getting more shy and self-conscious with the passage of time.

Mac walked over to sit beside her daughter. 'You'll like her. She's an old friend of mine from law school – we got along really great back then, but we sort of lost touch over the years – at first, anyway. I bumped into her again some years ago; we started exchanging emails and phone calls, and we really reconnected. Then she moved closer to us a couple of months ago, and we've met for a meal or a coffee a few times since she arrived. We followed totally different career paths, but we still have so much in common. It's actually almost uncanny.'

'That's great,' Katie replied half-heartedly, forcing herself to her feet and steeling herself for another awkward encounter.

'Ever heard of Lisa Jacobsen?' Mac asked.

Katie rolled her eyes. 'Of course – she's only one of the most respected stage directors in the country! Her productions of "Revelry" and "Tap Street" are legendary. And even before she started directing, she designed the most amazing, atmospheric sets.' Her blue eyes lit up suddenly. 'Wait a minute, does your friend know Lisa Jacobsen?' Katie suddenly realized that she would happily try to overcome her crippling shyness, if it would mean the opportunity to talk to someone who knew such an icon personally. Her face fell when her mother shook her head.

'No, honey,' Mac replied, her eyes dancing with humor, 'my friend is Lisa Jacobsen.'

Katie leaped out of bed, squealing and stammering all at once. 'Y-y-you went to law school with Lisa Jacobsen? I didn't know she was ever a lawyer… oh my gosh, she's – she's d-d-downstairs?! Here?'

Mac nodded. 'Uh huh. So… do you want to meet her?'

'Do I want to meet her?!' Mac barely had time to blink before Katie rushed headlong down the stairs.

Katie and Lisa hit it off even better than Mac had hoped, with Lisa informally adopting the role of mentor to Katie, while forging a close friendship with Mac. The fact that Lisa could speak passable Russian strengthened the bond between Lisa and Katie even further. Hoping to help them hold on to at least some of their Russian, Mac and Harm had sought opportunities to enhance Jack and Katie's bilingual abilities over the years. Mac frequently spoke Russian to them at home, and sometimes the family went to Russian cultural events together.

One day a few months later, Mac and Katie were visiting Lisa at her chic loft when Katie shyly asked where Lisa had acquired her Russian skills.

'It's a long story,' Lisa responded. 'After law school, I realized that going to law school had been a big mistake. I did it because my parents wanted me to – my dad was this big-shot attorney and desperately wanted me to work with him at his firm. But it just wasn't for me. I was obsessed with the stage; I knew that I wanted to work in theater… and at that point I also really wanted to get away from my disappointed parents. I was young and ambitious, and I wanted to follow my dreams. So I moved to New York. I met this amazing dancer from Russia named Mikhail, and fell madly in love.'

Katie let out a small sigh – to her, it sounded like the sort of thing that only happened in movies.

Lisa gave her a wry look. 'Oh, I know it all sounds wildly romantic, but it was also tough. We were poor at first – I refused to accept offers of help from my dad – especially since they inevitably came with strings attached… it was always "I'll help you out if you'll come home". Mikhail was a talented dancer, but he wasn't earning a whole lot of money, and neither was I… I was working behind the scenes for peanuts.'

Lisa laughed to herself. 'And we literally lived on peanuts as well… I remember one week, we were out of cash, and all we had in our tiny apartment was this old jar of peanut butter and some crackers. We lived on that – and whatever free food we could grab at work – until I got my next paycheck. "Thank God I'm a dancer," Mikhail used to say, "being broke and hungry keeps me light on my feet." It was really hard for a long time, but at least we had each other.'

'So Mikhail taught you Russian?' Katie asked.

Lisa nodded. 'Yep – his English was terrible when we met, so it was only natural, I guess – we could only do so much communicating with our eyes and our… uh, well, with our eyes. Anyway, I helped him improve his English, and he taught me some Russian. And when we started earning more money, I started taking language classes as well. It was important to me to learn more about Mikhail's cultural background, and I have a natural affinity for languages. So, anyway – that's how I learned Russian. I never achieved total fluency, but I get by.'

'What happened to Mikhail?' Katie asked. She had always assumed that Lisa was single – there were no family photos in her flat, and she'd never spoken of a partner, or any other family for that matter.

Mac interjected, 'Katie –'

Lisa shook her head. 'No, it's okay Mac… like we discussed, Katie's old enough to understand, and I don't mind talking about it. Mikhail and I were together for a long time. As you know, I slowly came up through the ranks in theater and eventually got the opportunity to direct – thanks to sheer determination and a little bit of luck. When injury ended his dance career early, Mikhail started teaching dance at home. We wanted a baby, and with Mikhail home most of the time, we thought the timing was finally perfect, but… it didn't happen for us. Eventually, we decided to adopt a baby from Russia.'

'Just like me and Jack,' Katie whispered.

'Just like you and Jack.' Lisa affirmed. 'But our story had a sad ending. Lilia was a lovely girl, but she had… a lot of problems. She had been through a lot, and she just… had a very hard time, in ways I can't get into right now. She was very depressed, very troubled, and it seemed like nothing we did helped. Mikhail and I tried our best to help her, but… we lost her after a drug overdose. She was only fourteen.'

Katie gasped in shock, tears springing to her eyes, as Lisa continued her tale.

'Mikhail and I… we drifted apart and split up. There were no hard feelings when it ended, it just didn't work out. He remarried eventually, had a couple of kids. Sadly, he died a couple of years ago – cancer.'

'That's so sad,' Katie mumbled.

'Yes,' Lisa replied with a sad smile, 'I have beautiful memories of him, though – and of my daughter. After we lost her, our lives just sort of fell apart… my work, much as I'd always loved it, didn't fulfill me anymore. It was just… a very dark, lonely and devastating time. I started seeing a therapist, and that helped, but I still felt… hollow. Then a friend talked to me about volunteering at my local Y. It was the last thing I wanted to do… I knew that seeing all those bright, young faces would only remind me of what we'd lost. But my friend wouldn't give up – she kept telling me about how helping young people had changed her life and helped her through some of her own problems. After some months of saying "No", I finally decided to give it a try.'

Lisa sighed heavily. 'The first few times, I would leave the Y and just manage to stumble to my car before bursting into floods of tears. But after a while, it was like I slowly came alive again. In many ways, teaching young people helped me get my life back, and my career back on track. After some training and research, I started the Lilia Zhukov Arts Foundation, in our daughter's memory. Our goal is to help young artists of all kinds, and from all backgrounds, to develop their skills and achieve their goals. We give scholarships and work closely with schools.'

Watching Katie closely, Mac saw her daughter lean forward in keen interest – with Katie's love for the arts, she knew the idea of the foundation would appeal to her.

Lisa went on. 'Once a year, we hold a summer camp – called Camp Lilia – for teenagers with talents in the arts – whether it's dance or music or drama or visual media. We take a special interest in teenagers who have never participated in similar programs or classes. I have an amazing team of experts – the camp usually lasts just two weeks, and I never take on more than thirty teens because it's so important to me that each kid gets lots of personal attention, but in those two weeks we really try to inspire young people.'

'It sounds amazing,' Katie said.

'I think so. It's all down to my team. We prepare for each camp intensively, and we really pour our hearts and souls into it, to tailor it to the needs of each set of kids. The program is always in high demand….'

Lisa darted a quick look at Mac, and when Mac nodded, she continued, '… which is why I've been talking to your parents about the next edition. It's still some months away, but they want you to take part. The artwork you've shared with me is very special… it's remarkable for someone so young, and you really deserve to be encouraged and to learn more. It's been a pleasure getting to know you Katie, you're an extraordinary young lady, and I want to see you attain your fullest potential, whatever you decide to do.'

Katie was amazed – and overjoyed. She had talked to her parents a few times in the past about attending summer camps, but the speed which they'd shut her down had discouraged her. 'No way,' her father would intone. 'You're too young,' her mother would chime in. And that would be that. Now she would get the chance to go to camp, and to be around other people who really understood her passions.

Back to the present

The morning bell hadn't been rung yet, so Katie stayed in bed, listening to the peaceful stillness of the morning, the call of the birds, the rustle of the trees. She loved the sounds of nature, and she was thrilled to know that she still had a few more days to savor at Camp Lilia. This camp experience was opening her eyes to vista of new possibilities, and she was grateful… and excited.