Camp Sunshine was a blast! here is Joli practicing her balance!
The camp has a great little walk down to the waterfront. Here is the bridge we have to cross to get there. They have fake animals in the woods that Joli could "spy" on her walk to the waterfront.
During the day, Jo was with her counselors (and a large group of children). She loved putting on a puppet show for them!
Joli chillin' on her bunk bed at Camp Sunshine
Camp Sunshine is for the entire family -- so even Jada got in on some action the first few days. Here she is with Mike Wachowski from Monsters, Inc!
Jada sportin' her Camp Sunshine duds!
Our little buddy Canyon! He's one of Jo's best friends!
A picture of just the Retinoblastoma kids at camp
Where to even begin?
We just got home from the most incredible time at Camp Sunshine in Maine. Camp Sunshine is a place where kids with cancer and their families can go and enjoy life! And, that is exactly what we did! All the kids this week were diagnosed with Retinoblastoma -- some had 1 eye; some had no eyes. Some had chemo. Some had radiation. Many had both. I wish I could truly put all of this down poetically, but the best way to see the result of Camp Sunshine is to see the confidence in Joli's eyes and hear the wonderful stories in our own voices (maybe I can get Grace to put this all in better words for me!).
Some quick anectodal stories:
Usually when Joli meets a little kid (supermarket, park, party, etc) she says, "Hi, I'm Joli! Do you have a special eye?" To which some kid usually looks at her like she's crazy or they just run away. Well, imagine, we roll up into Camp Sunshine, Joli sees a group of little kids and she says, "Hi, I'm Joli! Do you have a special eye?" and every single kid says, "YES! I have a special eye...which one is your special eye... I wear glasses... I like your glasses...." and the conversations just go on and on like that.
Joli met a few kids and adults who were completely blind - lost both eyes to retinoblastoma. She met one little gal who came up to her and began feeling her face. Joli looked a little nervous at first, then said to the girl, "Are you blind? You can't see, right?" and the little girl said "Yeah, I'm blind. What's your name....?" From then on, that little girl was one of Joli's best friends (they even went swimming together!)
Joli met a few kids in the hospital when we were in treatment, and she saw those kids at Camp Sunshine! One night, she turned to me (as she was sleeping in one of the bunk beds) and said, "Mommy. Canyon is my friend. He visited me in the hospital. I love my friends. Good night, Mom." And that was that.
One of the hardest things to do was to leave Camp. Camp Sunshine was a powerful experience for our entire family. While the kiddies (including Jada!) were watched by volunteers, the parents also got to have some play time! IT was like WE were campers, too! We did some fun games like ropes courses and challenges and also had serious discussion groups. Some of the groups were educational (latest research in retinoblastoma) and some where emotional. All were life changing.
As we were leaving, Joli put her little hand in mine and said, "Mama. My heart feels sad." "Why, Joli?" "I don't want to leave my friends. They are just like me."
I'm guessing no one from Camp Sunshine is actually reading our blog, but we are forever grateful for the gift you gave us this week. Thank you to all the volunteers, to the 13 year old gal who raised the money for us to GO TO CAMP!, and to Joli's special counselors - Rachel and Melissa. We will never forget this!
.JPG)
