My Home Away from Home
Intro
For those who have known me for several years, you know that I went to a summer camp from 1996 to 2008. Many people have asked me what the number one thing I can offer for advice would be when it comes to making sure their disabled child lives life to the fullest extent possible. This question is difficult for me to answer…
My Answer
I come from parents who couldn’t really agree on much when it came to raising me. The one thing they could agree on was sending me to summer camp. This was the best decision they could’ve ever made. It allowed me to be around other people experiencing the same struggles or at least similar ones.The best advice I can give parents is for them to put their child in an environment where they socialize with others that they are able to learn from. The poem below describes how I feel about going to summer camp. I hope you enjoy it.
Poem
All my worries fade away like distant memories as the sounds of laughter fill my head. The challenges of daily life melt away, letting people see you for you; they see your strengths and not your weaknesses. So care free -so full of hope- the feeling that nothing can hurt you. You get that feeling just for a split second that everything is right with the world. People all around you, ready and willing to teach you things. A place if only for a minute we see a brighter future. That place is my home away from home.
Someone always is there to catch you when you fall; you never feel alone. You look up to the sky, all your hopes and dreams come alive. No more “I can’t”; instead, “yes I can”—people who believed in you and help you believe in yourself. You notice a change in yourself, a little flame lit inside you. You see the looks of determination on the faces of people around you— are accomplishing things never thought possible. Meeting other people going through the same thing you are, hearing their story, leaning on each other, learning that there isn’t a reason not to live life to the fullest. You’ve found your place in the world, creating memories that will last forever. You’ve experienced something unimaginable by the end—that little flame inside you has grown, yearning to see the world in a whole new light. This place will be remembered forever as the place where you find yourself— my home away from home.