Another Week of Camp

I had a good week this week, and even a good family camp. This week at camp I had a day that was very humbling. Part of my job is hosting groups from a variety of organizations that come out for the day. We have several regulars that come several times a week as well as several groups that this year will be their first time at the camp. The children I deal with are much higher needs then the children that come for week long camps, and often come with high ratios and lots of aids. I had an especially special group this past Thursday. One of those moments where it truly makes you appreciate life a little more. My group showed up Thursday morning in a wheelchair accessible bus, ready to rock and roll. I usually chat with the leaders of the group about what their organization does, what services they offer etc. After talking to the leader for a few minutes she told me that the children they had there today were all in palliative care, and in the end stages of their diseases. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that all the children (except the siblings) that I had there that day were dying, and probably didn't have much time left. Three of the five children had feeling tubes, and machinery that came with them. They were all in wheelchairs, and various stages of alertness. Only one could sit up on his own and respond with noises when spoken to. Some of them laid back, and could almost not open their eyes. At first when I found out I was taken back, and pretty sad thinking that these children won't be returning next year and what a cruel world we live in that these sweet children were dying. Then I realized that this day could possibly be the funnest day for the rest of their lives. They were going to have experiences today that would be fun, freeing and memorable! And I was the one they were going to remember helped them do that. That made me more excited to for the day, determined to show these kids a fabulous time. They went on a wheelchair accessible wagon ride, ride on the pontoon boat around the lake and each of them got the opportunity to ride a horse. Even tho most of them were non verbal I could tell by the looks on their faces, and the noises they were making that each and every child in that group was having the time of their lives! One of them got to drive the boat, and I though for sure his face would break because his smile was so big. The staff and family that came with the group were so grateful and pleased with their experience at the camp, they all thanked me profusely, and I in turn thanked them. They gave me a gift that day that I will never forget. Even tho we only had a few hours together I will remember each of those children for the rest of my life, and I am so thankful I was the one that got to share that day with them. For those of you who get caught up in the trivial negativity of life please try to remember that we are extremely fortunate no mater what bumps in the road we experience.

So after a heartfelt week, really loving what I do it was time for family camp! I was kind of nervous about this weekends family camp and trying to get myself ready for it. I was warned ahead of time that the group we had coming was notorious for being rude, demanding, disrespectful, stealing, and possibly drugs and alcohol. So I went into the weekend amped and ready for anything they wanted to throw at me. Friday evening they all arrived and they started to get settled in their tipis. About 2 hours into the evening a very wonderful and nice family came up to me and told me they didn't have any sleep mats in their tipi. This was strange and annoying, because I know that we make sure to have 10 mats in every tipi before the families come. I was supposed to be going on break, but I headed down to take care of this. The family that said they had no mats were in deer tipi, and this tipi is right next to eagle. I don't know why, but on my way down to the tipi I thought that maybe eagle had taken the mats into their tipi. So I approached them and said, "Hey guys, I am just looking for some extra sleep mats. Do you have any extra mats in your tipi?" They said, "No, we don't have any extra." I then asked, "How many people are sleeping in your tipi this weekend?" "Seven." To which I replied, "Well there are ten mats in every tipi, so you have at least 3 extra mats. I am going to go ahead and go and get those now." I opened the flap and low and behold they had about 25 mats in there. They had built themselves double beds, three mats high. I informed them that they had left their neighbours without any mats and I was going to go ahead and take the mats back, and proceeded to start ripping their beds apart. I thought to myself 'Gawd! Two hours into it and these guys are starting with the shit already!' However it turns out the weekend went pretty well . There were a lot of  great families there, and I was glad I got to meet a lot of them. There were a handful of families that lived up to the reputation, but there is a handful of frustrating families in every family camp. I did however, end up  missing a pair of sunglasses, but that was my only property causality of the weekend. The best part of this weekend, was no cougar!

Sunday after we cleaned up the camp we had some team building time, which involved a swim in the lake. It was a great way to end a weekend of work. Then Amy came out to pick me up and I was able to give her the tour of camp and we went for another swim in the lake. I was super happy that she got to see the camp I work at. Then I headed back to Calgary to enjoy some much deserved time off.