Jadon had the privilege of
attending summer camp again last summer.
He was as excited as ever to go.
Luckily, we were pretty busy before camp so the wait for camp to arrive
was not too bad.
Finally, the day arrived – August
11. We arrived at camp a little after
noon for check-in. Jadon was happy to
see his friends. He was especially happy
and surprised to see his friend Dillon from camp last year. We saw Dillon in San Diego and he told us how
much he loved Camp Korey. He said he
wished he lived close enough to go every year.
He lives in Arizona so there is some expense for him to get to camp. A Camp Korey angel heard about Dillon’s
desire to return to Camp Korey and got his airfare donated so he could
attend. The look on both boys’ faces, to
see each other and be at camp again, was priceless.
Jadon had a great time Monday and
Tuesday. We don’t hear too much about
camp as it happens but we did learn the theme – Harry Potter.
Wednesday morning came and Jadon
was a little quieter than usual as we prepared to go to camp. You see, this year, Jadon was able to spend two
nights at camp, Wednesday night and Thursday night. This was a big step for Jadon. I could tell he was a little nervous and,
honestly, so was I. Once we got to camp,
he seemed better but our goodbye hug lasted a little longer than usual.
Of course, Jadon was on all our
minds a lot on Wednesday and Thursday. I
worked hard to keep Kalina busy visiting friends and playing so she would not
think about him being gone too much. I think maybe it was the hardest on her. She and Jadon have a very special
relationship. Kalina was happy when we
received a picture from camp Thursday night.
She finally had proof her beloved brother was ok.
We got Jadon from camp on Friday
morning. He gets what I would call “post
camp blues” for a little while after camp.
He is quiet and reflective about the events of the past week. He does not say much, even when directly
asked. We give him his space and let him
ponder. We know he will talk when he is
ready. Once he is ready to talk, he gets
out the weekly schedule and gives us a detailed account of each days’
activities. Of course, he had an awesome
time. He really enjoyed the archery (new
this year) and the sneakout at night.
People ask us what Camp Korey means to Jadon. It is hard to put into words for many reasons, the main one being that we do not fully understand, and we never will, what Camp Korey really means to him. He gets to spend a week with his friends, people who all kind of look like him and have similar issues. He has a week of no one staring at him or pointing at him or laughing at him or trying to take his picture. He has a week just to be himself without reservation. That is special for him. I call it Camp Korey magic. I am looking forward to next year when Kalina gets to experience the magic, too.
Here is a something Jadon wrote
about Camp Korey at school.
Camp Korey 2014 - The Sneakout
Yawn. I was preparing for bed at Camp
Korey. Camp Korey is an AWESOME camp that serves serious and
life-altering medical conditions. I go to the Skeletal Dysplasia week. What I
really LOVE about my week is it's almost all Little People. Besides the
counselors, we don't see another big person for a week (Monday to Friday). That's
what my friends and I love about Camp Korey.
I was in my cabin
and room (Mom calls camp a luxury camp, rooms like mini hotels with 4 bunk beds
a room and own bathroom). I was going to brush my teeth, then go say good night
to my friends and counselors. I was going to get my toothbrush when my door slid
open and light poured into the room. I looked up. One of my counselors, Cam,
was at the door.
"Jadon, please
get on your scooter and come to the door NOW."
He left. Behind him, I could see my cabin of eight boys and a lot of counselors
quietly head for the door outside. I smiled. I knew what was happening. We were
going to sneak out!
I jumped on my
scooter and rolled out of my room and towards the door. My cabin was waiting.
One counselor was standing by the door, clutching the handle.
"SHH! All
right, I'm going to open the door to check if it's clear. If it is, I'll
signal. If not, back to your room quickly and quietly. Got it?" We nodded.
She slid the door open, and stuck her head out. Another counselor, Mike, went
over, but she signaled it was clear. With me in the lead, we went down the
ramp.
"Where
to?" I whispered to Mike.
"Bungalow,"
he whispered. I gave him a quick nod, then headed towards the building.
"Why here? The medical staff sleeps
here!" I thought, but went towards the building anyway. We hid behind a car.
"So, you know
how I'm the lifeguard?" the lady counselor whispered. We nodded.
"Well, the camp isn't too picky about getting the pool keys every night,
so I might have held onto them for a
bit longer. Remind me, who likes the hot tub?" she asked. With that
encouragement, we quietly ran to the pool. We got in and put our feet in the
tub.
We were there for
half an hour. Then, we quietly crept back to the cabin. Once in, I finished
getting ready for bed. When I was dozing, I noted the time, 10:30. "Huh. Better than last year." I
noticed. I then drifted off to bed, thinking of the AWESOME week I had at Camp
Korey.
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| Ready for Camp Korey! |
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| Here we come! |
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| Jadon and Dillon |
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