Over the summer Halley had the opportunity to attend a grief summer camp. We heard about this camp from the family weekend grief camp for families that have lost a child, at any age, that was treated at Cook Childrens. When we heard that Halley would be gone for a week we were a bit skeptical, but after thinking about it for a while, we knew it would be a great opportunity.
This particular camp is for children age 6-17 who had someone in their life pass away. The camp brings in a ton of volunteers as well as therapists that are available to work with the children everyday. They do regular camp activities but also do activities that help them with their grief.
Halley just had the best time, but I missed her terribly the entire time. Honestly, I cried several times while she was gone. I guess it gave me time to reflect on a bunch of built up feelings and then the feelings I had about Halley and her dealing with her grief. I didn't get to have any contact with her while she was there, expect I was able to send her little notes to her bunk. One day I did get a sweet letter from her on a Wednesday telling us about the horse she got to ride and thanking us for letting her go there. Also on Wednesday, there was a parent meeting with the therapists that are working with your child. They can't give specifics becuase of confidentiality, but they were able to tell us about some excerises they were doing as a group and if they were opening up about their loss and feelings or not.
When I went to pick up Halley she was super excited about the time she spent at camp. She told us about the friends she made, sang the songs she learned, told us about the nightly activities they did as a camp, etc. What impacted me the most when I picked her up was when her therapist pulled me aside and said that just the night before Halley really opened up and really let some emotions out. She told me that if Halley is a little off that day, it is normal, becuase she is still processing everything. Then as soon as we left the group, Halley told me herself that just the night before she was crying very hard because she was expressing how much she missed Lauren. She came home with a lot of goodies and a lot of great stories.
I'm very happy that she learned so much from this camp, especially new skills that she can use with coping with her grief, sadness, anger. This camp gives Halley the opportunity to attend for a total of 3 years, so she is looking forward to going the next couple of years. I think she enjoys knowing she isnt the only child that has dealt with a death and can be comfortable talking about Lauren. Cook Childrens is just doubly awesome because since Lauren was treated by Cooks, they provide Halley with the scholarship to attend. It is definitely something great that has came into our lives.
El Tesoro de la Vida means “The Treasure of Life.” I think it is amazing that this camp teaches about the beauty of life and how to still embrace your loved one openly.
