July 10, 2024
July 10, 2024
Tate made it to camp!
The drive into Round Up River Ranch is beautiful! You follow the river and suddenly there’s this open, green space with a bridge and a roof with 3 big white R’s. It brings instant smiles and lots of emotions. Across that bridge at the gate is a welcoming group of the camp crew wearing tutu’s, giant smiles, waving arms and holding signs. The campers are greeted by name and the reunion instantly starts. It’s a place where the medical is normal, the love is in abundance, the fun and smiles never ends and for the parents and caregivers……the kids are safe and so so happy.
I got to fill my cup with hugs too and still can’t put into words my gratitude. After our first night away from Tate, I’m still left constantly wondering what she’s doing and how she’s feeling with a giant swirl of emotions in my chest and tears ready to overflow at any moment. But not because I’m worried. Because in all honesty, I’d rather have her medically cared for at camp than in the hospital. At camp her physical needs are met, but her emotional needs are too. And those are just as important to her body overcoming everything it needs to overcome for her to keep on smiling and moving through her day. What she’ll gain this week, she’ll carry with her for the rest of the year and has shaped her moving forward in her life. The goal of getting to camp kept her going for months leading up to yesterday. The adults she has met and so quickly loved support her and cheer her on and are a support for me too. An amazing organization only because of the amazing people filling it up. So many special, special people.
For a kid like Tate who’s outside the medical world is so small, camp is everything. So many people work together to make these weeks happen from the staff to the administration to the donors! Camp is free and costs about $3,000 per kid for the week. That’s Pennie’s in the world of serious medical, but unattainable for the families when considered an “extra.” But it’s a “prescription” every medical kid should have as part of their journey. We are thankful for every single moment that Tate has had involved with and benefiting from RRR. This is her last year as a camper, but she’s not finished here.