Camp Star Trails: The World's Greatest

Hey readers! I'm sorry it has taken me a while to write again, but here it is:

I spent this past week at Camp Star Trails which is a camp put on mostly by people at MD Anderson for kiddos with cancer and their siblings. We had kids of all varieties there. We had boys and girls, from ages 5-6 all the way up to 12-13, still very sick and on chemo to siblings who had never been sick a day in their lives, kids who had just been diagnosed to kids that had never known a life without cancer. It was truly an amazing experience.

You may be wondering how something like this could be pulled off and how these kids, some with blatant disabilities could be entertained and kept from homesickness at an overnight camp for a week. Well, let's just say we were moving, moving, moving, the whole week.

I had a cabin of 10-12-year-old girls that were amazing. We had two that required a lot of special attention and another couple that tired very easily. We were at a camp site called "Camp for All" that is, what appears to be a multi-million dollar operation, complete with their own staff. All of the camp is completely wheel-chair accessible including the pools and bathrooms. Our cabin had only 8 campers to 4 counselors and we needed everyone of them!

The day started with optional "early morning fishing" at 6:30AM and ended most nights around 10:30 for us when all the girls got showered and in bed. We did basically everything that kids do at summer camp (that's kinda the point). We fished, canoed, did archery, rode bikes, conquered low ropes, climbed high ropes, went horseback riding, played sports, had a beauty spa and tea party, danced (a lot), got dressed up for a party and so much more. It was a full week! I am so happy to say that everyone in my cabin, including one wheel-chair/walker-bound camper, got to do everything! It was of course challenge by choice, but they were mostly great about choosing to challenge themselves.

Most people I have talked to about this have asked me if it was just overwhelmingly sad to be with these kids and how in the world I could work with kids with cancer. Honestly there were just a few times in the week that it was sad for me. When we were up and moving around doing things, it was pretty easy to forget what these kids are struggling with. But when we calmed down and settled for bed in the evening, it was impossible to escape. I suppose some of my campers may have been told they are "terminal" but I obviously didn't ask and they didn't volunteer that information. Who gives a care though? They don't (for the most part). They choose to get up every morning of camp and try new things and make new friends. They are kids and despite the amount of maturity one might think they claim after a diagnosis, they really still act like kids.

We sang a lot of songs at camp that were really cool and inspirational that I don't have time to write here. But there is one that sticks in my memory. We would sing this with motions and everything every morning and several evenings. It was really cool to see the kids start believing the chorus:

The first time I heard it, I was a bit shocked. What are we teaching these kids?! But really, it's so true. They are the world's greatest. They have overcome a very formidable enemy: Giving up. They (or their brother or sister) may or may not win the fight with cancer if we are honest, many of them will lose. But they get up and act like kids every morning. They came to a camp away from their parents and did amazing! I don't think I'll ever forget that song and how amazing it was to see these kids sing it.

The other aspect that I really liked about camp was how the brothers and sisters were invited to come and be a part of camp as well. They all cared so much about their bro or sis that is sick and were so attentive to their family connection. One little girl in my cabin and her little brother (coincidentally in Carter's cabin) reminded me some what of Wade and I's relationship and how I used to look up to him. It was so obvious how important that bond between brothers and sisters is, especially when one of them is or has been so sick.

I don't want to talk your ears off, but you can probably tell that I LOVED camp. I have recognized how much I LOVE working with kids, especially older elementary aged ones. I think back to Samoa and how important those kids were/are to me and how attached I got to the kids I worked with this week and can't help but think about doing something in the future with kids. Whether this is going into pediatrics, having my own kids, or doing something else I haven't thought of, I don't have a clue. I also realize that we have GOT to find better treatments and cures for them. Maybe research wouldn't be so bad after all.

I want everyone I know to go down to Star Trails with me next summer. My plan is to try to return to camp if it works out with wherever God has me next summer. His placement of me these past few years has been so incredible! I wouldn't change a thing, even though at times it has been hard and sad.

I hope you will join me in praying for these amazing kids, themselves and their siblings, and their fights with cancer. They are amazing and resilient for the most part. They really are the world's greatest!