Making Life-Long-Distance Friendships
By: Ashley Davis
Published: Lifelines for Health Spring 2017
This was our first year attending Inhibitor Family Camp at Victory Junction. We were beyond excited.
We really didn’t know what to expect. We knew there would be rap sessions and fun activities, but we had no idea the dynamic relationships we would create.
Upon arriving, we met our awesome crew chief who stayed with us all weekend and helped us out with anything we needed. Our six year old son warmed up to her pretty quickly and was never torn about having to leave us to go hang out with her and the other children. He normally does not want to leave our side if he’s around people he doesn’t know well, so we weren’t sure how he was going to feel when we headed off to rap sessions and he had to go a separate way with the kids. However, our crew chief was so good with him, and he had no hesitation about going off to have some fun without mom and dad! This was great for us, since we hardly ever leave his side at home. We needed this time to talk and empathize with other parents dealing with the same things.
The emotional and physical aspect of being a caregiver is often very overwhelming. Understandably, nobody back home – even those closest to us – really knows what it feels like on a daily basis. Being able to meet other parents, and for me other mothers, was extremely humbling. For once, we were able to be around people who really, truly get it. This was the biggest takeaway for me, personally. I needed desperately to find that connection. I was able to make lifelong friendships and find people to connect with, even if hundreds of miles away.
In the same way, our son was able to finally meet other boys going through the same things he does each day. He was able to do fun activities and participate in things we wouldn’t normally do back home. All of the boys were so welcoming and made him feel like they had always been friends.
During infusion time, our son was able to build up enough courage to stick his dad for the first time. Some
of the older boys rallied around him and gave him their support, which was so cool to watch. These kids shouldn’t have to worry about things like this, but they embrace it so well and run with it, and then encourage the others to run with it as well. Amazing.
We are so grateful for the opportunity that CHES provided us to attend Inhibitor Family Camp. Without their generosity and willingness to host, we would not be able to do something like this. They made it such a special weekend for us. We each had our own personal takeaways, as well as family experiences to take home. Thank you CHES!