Oh my...where to begin!!
Several years ago my in-laws suggested we speak with a friend of theirs, Larry Melnick who was on the board of Camp Twin Lakes which is a camp for kids w/special needs. Each week a different camp utilizes Camp Twin Lakes...diabetics, Autism, cancer, etc. He suggested we send Sam but we were too nervous and never did anything about it. Until this year.
In March, I made a phone call to Camp TBI (To Be Independent) which is a camp for kids with Traumatic Brain Injury to inquire about their program. I spoke with the director, Alice Salley, to get some info. I decided it was time to give camp a try. I got Sam registered and did all the necessary forms. I got an email back from Alice who had some concerns that Sam hasn't ever been away from home but I told her we would work on that. Sam was accepted to the camp, free of charge.
We didn't tell Sam that he was going to camp but brought up the idea of camp and he was less than thrilled. In April, Camp TBI hosted the Open House at Camp Twin Lakes so we went to Rutledge, Georgia to go check it out. It was amazing!
Even though Sam wasn't interested, the rest of us were so excited! Abby was also jealous.
In early July, I got a call from Sam's assigned camp counselor. Julia Story is from Virginia and going to OT school in Augusta. I asked her if Sam was her only child for camp and luckily for us, he was. He was going to need some one-on-one since this was his first time. I also asked if she would be willing to meet prior to camp so that Sam could get to know her and she was great with that. We decided to meet on July 13th in Greensboro, Ga. which was halfway for both of us. We met at the Yesterday Cafe and it was great! Julia is a darling girl and we were so happy she was going to work with Sam at camp. As we were talking, she mentioned that she was going to SLC, Utah for a 3 month clinical at the U of U. What??? We're from Utah! I asked where she planned on staying and she mentioned she had looked at some extended stay hotels. Nope, we're not going to let Sam's cute camp counselor stay there so we told her we would work on it.
We had a yummy lunch then walked around for a bit. I had previously asked her some of her "favorites" so Sam could get to know her a bit and she also shares a love of "Chopped", just like Sam so I got her a little gift...a cute apron and a little book of quotes on volunteerism.
Sam & Julia in Greensboro, Ga.
Julia sent this text of her w/her new apron. She is a doll!
I received the email containing the packing list for camp. By this time, Sam knew he was going to camp but kept saying he wasn't going. Too late! I sent an email to friends and family asking them to write a little letter to Sam so that he would have mail to open as well.
Here's what barely fit into his bag!
Camp went from Sunday, July 21 - Friday, July 26. It made the most sense to have Todd take Sam since I knew that it would be awful if I was there. Sam left without any tears and I hoped and prayed that all would go well.
Todd got Sam's bed and area set up & missed his window of opportunity of leaving without Sam noticing. Needless to say, there were tears all around. Todd managed to leave and that was that.
Sam's cabin
Sam's cabin mates were Draven, Brandon, Victor (came all the way from San Diego!) & Jack and the camp counselors that stayed in the cabin were Alex and Preston.
We were in the dark for several days then photos started to appear. We were so happy to see smiles on his face and it appeared he was having fun! Yay!
I had sent a lengthy note to Julia with explanations of several things and I included a composition notebook for her to document each day, with Sam's help.
Here's what went on during the week at camp (in Julia's words):
Sunday:
Our first day of camp! Sam set the goal of facing fears! And so far he is doing a great job!
*Made a lot of new friends
*The new "high five" king of camp!
*We showed off our cool dance moves in the middle of a huge dance circle
*Sam gave a short speech in front of the entire camp
*Sam won 2nd place in a singing contest for holding the longest note
*Played basketball & made 7 in a row. He also taught others to play
Sam is very quickly becoming friends with everyone in the camp. He still misses home, but he doesn't let that stop him from enthusiastically cheer for other campers. Tomorrow classes start. The staff is very impressed with how outgoing and supportive Sam is.
Sam is meshing really well with his cabin mates. Draven shares his motorcycle magazines with Sam before bed.
Monday:
Sam said that his goal for the week is to make new friends and face his fears.
Goals accomplished today!
*rode horses
*Giant zip line & swing! Sam was scared at first and still decided he was going to try the swing
*Nature walk
*Danced and sang during "spirit time" after lunch. Stayed the entire time despite the noise
*Played basketball with new friends and helped a friend in a wheelchair shoot hoops
*Pirate Show!! Sam won the Wheel of Fortune game with Captain Jack Sparrow.
Tuesday:
We woke up bright & early to take a camp picture with out new Camp TBI t-shirts on. Before the picture, Sam met a new friend, Alexander and they had an arm wrestling competition. Alexander won!
*We played kickball and our team's name was the Pirates
*At the archery range, Sam made an arrow into the target! He screamed with excitement
*Before lunch, we made our own radio show (90.3 "the kite") and it was broadcasted around camp. Sam's DJ name was DJ Fortune and he did the Wheel of Fortune introduction
*After lunch, Sam played tennis with some new friends and Donald, a para-olympic tennis player. Sam sat with Donald at dinner and they talked the whole time.
*We also helped make dinner today. We prepped corn to be grilled and Sam made pirate cupcakes! They were so good.
*We played mini golf and Sam was the professional adviser and coach to all of his friends.
*After dinner we went to a pool party!! They had a band playing while we swam. Sam especially loved the giant slide and playing pool volleyball
Today was our friend Javon's 20th birthday. We sang to him 3 times and Sam gave him countless high-5s
Wednesday:
Tonight we are performing in the talent show. Sam is telling jokes! Here are the jokes he is telling:
1-What kind of bird can't fly? A jail bird
2-What do you get when you cross a news reporter & a vegetable? A commen-tater!
3-How do you wake up Lady Gaga? Poke her face
4-What do you call a flying turtle? A shellacopter
5-Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants? In case he got a hole-in-one
*First after breakfast, we went to the arts and crafts room to make flags and tie dye
*During "free choice" Sam decided to go back to the giant swing because he enjoyed it so much on Monday. This time Sam went to the very top...40 feet!
*Right before lunch, we went fishing and Sam caught a fish!
*After lunch Sam went on the zip line!!! The whole day he said he wasn't going to do it until we got there...then Sam wanted to be first! Sam got a little scared at the top of the platform (40 feet high), but he had blast once he jumped.
*Swimming-again Sam went down the slide a million times and played volleyball
*Tonight was the talent show! 2.5 hours of a whole variety of abilities; singing, dancing, drawing, piano, etc. Sam told jokes and he killed it! The entire camp was laughing so hard that I had to tell them to cheer quietly so as to not hurt his ears.
**Today there was huge progress. Sam has been having tons of fun this week but once or twice a day he would tell me he wanted to go home. Tonight, Sam thanked me for inviting him to camp and said he is having a lot of fun here. Finally!! Previously, he would admit to enjoying all activities but not camp. But I could tell he did! He finally admitted it!
Thursday:
*This morning we went to the farm on camp and got to try all the fresh veggies. Sam tried every single time and he like it all! Sam is so great at trying new things. We also got to feed the chickens and goats
*We had a pool party and then went to the paddle boats. All of the boys in Sam's cabin decided they didn't want to get splashed so they were all in a " dry boat" together (wearing life jackets of course). It was really cute to see them maneuver around the lake
*We made a memory book before lunch. It is obviously my handwriting but Sam shared all of the stories that he wanted to go in it. it is included in his suitcase. I hope you enjoy it!
*Tonight was the dancee! All week Sam didn't want to go to it. But earlier today he asked Danielle (one of my classmates) to the dance and now won't stop talking about the dance. He insisted on wearing his tie and rolling down his sleeves. Sam asked one of his cabin mates (Draven) for a spritz of Axe to smell nice. Sam picked a zenia to give to Danielle before the dance...but we lost it so he gave her glow sticks instead. At the dance, Sam danced in groups a lot and told jokes to friends when he got tired. I tried to let Sam have space at the dance because I had been guiding his socialization/schedule for the rest of the week. He was such a gentleman! After the dance ended, Sam asked if we could walk Danielle back to her cabin.
(so sweet!)
I nearly died when Julia texted the photo of Sam and his "date" for the dance. So great!
We picked up Sam on Friday morning at 10am and when we got him checked out, everyone gushed about him and how great he was and how outgoing he had been. I was so relieved! Julia brought Sam up and we took some time to look at the camp. It had rained during the open house so we did miss some stuff. Sam showed us the tree house and giant swing. Julia & I chatted about some of the experiences but she was having a hard time and was trying hard not to cry.
Sam gave lots of hugs and high-5s and said goodbye to Camp TBI.
Here are all the letters Sam received at camp
Julia said they were going from 7am-10 or 11pm at night. As you can see, he was exhausted!
We read all the letters and his camp notebook and we so appreciate all the love shown to Sam during this entire experience. Here's the letter Julia wrote to Sam:
To Sam,
I have had such an amazing week with you. I could not have been paired with a cooler camper. You have become the heart of this camp, an inspiration to others on how to make friends and live life to the fullest. Your laugh is infectious and your consideration for others melts my hears. You never met a stranger! And you give unconditional support to those around you. I am proud and amazed that you tried every single challenge that arose, big or small. I hope you had fun at camp buddy! And I hope you always remember and live up to our goal at camp: "face your fears!"
I miss you already, Sam!
Love, Julia
PS...I really hope you decide to come back to camp next year. You bring so much to the table and all the other campers (and me!) will miss you if you don't!
We couldn't have asked for a better first-time camp experience for Sam. We are truly blessed with such a wonderful program to have been a part of and such a sweet counselor that helped Sam achieve so much during that week.
We are looking forward to Camp TBI-2014!!
