A Letter from the CEO
How Family Summer Vacations compare to Ambling’s Core Values
Summer is here. School is out, the grass is green, and the thermometer is rising. It is during this time of year that most of us take time off for a summer vacation. In fact, it’s likely that you are either planning a vacation or are on vacation right now. I have fond memories of our summer family vacations while growing up. They usually included loading up the station wagon and heading to a campground a few hours from home. While others went to the mountains of North Georgia to escape the heat, our family usually went to Florida and camped by a lake. From there we could enjoy the lake and escape to the beach for a day trip. Our family unit is very close, so it was customary for the other families to join us for summer vacation. It was a great time of fun and togetherness that provided a bonding family experience. To this day, I believe the main reason our family continues to be close relates to these family vacations.
Now to the point. Ambling’s Core Values include:
- Enriching Lives
- Building Community
- Creating Home
These values remind me of my summer vacations with family.
ENRICHING LIVES – My life has been greatly enriched by the bonds built by spending time with my family during summer vacation. I have numerous cousins scattered all over Georgia and Florida. Yet, when we came together for summer vacation each year, we simply started all over with our relationships just as if we had been interacting every day. In the end our lives have greatly enriched as a result.
BUILDING COMMUNITY – We participated in activities which brought us together as family. We helped each other set up and break down camp. We played games, learned to water ski and surf and went fishing together. We built sand castles and shared our meals. We talked, and we listened. Today our family is a strong as ever as a result. We have truly built a community that will last for generations.
CREATING HOME – There was a sense of home created during our family vacations that has transcended generations and still evident today in our families’ lives. Today our family continues to support each other, and we rely upon each other in times of need. We celebrate our successes. We pray for each other. We are there for each other in many ways. One of the definitions we used in describing HOME related to being a “safe place” or a “form of refuge”. In that spirit, our family has created a “safe place” from which we are protected from the dangers that exist all around us every day.
At Ambling, we are committed to Enriching Lives, Building Community, and Creating Home. But this isn’t a destination; it’s a journey. And it’s a commitment. These investments may not pay dividends initially, but over time, they could have the same effect on our residents as our ‘family summer vacations’ has had on me.
I hope you have a great summer and create memories that last a lifetime.
Mike