Our Stories

Happy Campers!

Jul, 2015

Camp Lifetimes 2015 offered opportunities to be creative and remember the important people in our life who have died. Many campers expressed that by writing out their grief during the journaling activity, it opened up a whole new world of ways to express their feelings. Splash Photography provided an avenue to be silly and carefree, designed to help the children realize that we all need a break from the intenseness of grief.

One of the most popular activities for the day took place at Krasl Art Center. Participants were able to get creative while making a memory pendant necklace. There were cutouts of words and phrases, as well as magazines offering a vast option of pictures that might represent a memory or feeling. Additionally, there were beads such as block letters, colorful round beads, and spacers to add a special touch to the necklaces. All of the “campers” dove into the project excitedly, loving the idea of creating something unique for their story and special person.

A boy, whose father died when he was very young, struggled to express himself throughout the day. He didn’t have any memories of his own, so he didn’t know how to participate. He expressed his frustration a few different times and though he was encouraged to share the memories others had shared with him, he desperately wanted his own. He knew through others’ memories that his father loved monster trucks.  We all looked through magazine after magazine for the perfect monster truck picture. Instead, a large picture of a tire was found and cut to just the right size. He added many extra embellishments that were personal to his story and ended up with a necklace he wore proudly. When his Mom arrived at the end of the day, he said to her, “I bet you’re jealous of the necklace I made about Dad!”

This young boy made his own memory of his father during Camp Lifetimes, and now he has a physical reminder. He will always remember Camp Lifetimes and the day he made a necklace for the father he never knew.