Tommy was twelve years old and had just finished the
sixth grade. This was his big summer. The summer he would talk about for years
to come. In the past, Tommy had gone
camping with his family. He had also gone alone on camping trips with his best
friends' family. This is the summer that he and his best friend Frankie would
travel to the National Forest Camp in the Klamath Basin area in Oregon from
their little coastal town of Brookings, Oregon. Frankie had been to the National
Forest Camp before, but this was Tommy's first experience away from family.
The bus trip was long, hot, and loud. There were 23 kids
from various areas of Southern Oregon traveling together to Camp Pinewood. This
was not just any camp. This was a camp for disabled children. When Tommy was
two years old he lost his right leg to cancer. Although it had been ten years,
he was still watched very closely to make sure the cancer does not return. Frankie was in a car accident at age three
and lost his left arm. The boys met in rehab and together have built a
beautiful friendship. Even though they are missing limbs from their bodies,
they have something most people lack, a love for life.
When the bus stopped and the door was opened the smell of
the pine trees surround the boys. The rumble of the waterfall hitting the rocks
in the creek below, the chattering of the chipmunks, the cool breeze of the
wind on that hot summer day built memories of the sweet natural paradise they
could grasp onto for years to come. The apprehension was slowly disappearing.
After the boys settled their belongings into their bunkhouse, they headed for
the swimming hole. What a great start!
The schedule for the next two weeks was full! They had
classes in canoeing, horseback riding, watercolors, swimming and the campfires,
what a way to end each the day! The first week they took lessons riding horses
for an hour in the morning and after lunch they were given certified
instructions on water safety. The campfires the first week were loaded with
skits and pranks about animals. The silly songs got the boys so wound up all
they could do was giggle and endlessly gaze at the stars hoping to finally
drift off into dreams of the activities captured that day.
They enjoyed the
peace and serenity of the woods after breakfast the second week. It did not
really matter what watercolor they put on their paper, the colors just seemed
to flow into a mystical portrait of brilliance. Their water safety classes paid
off in the afternoons the last half of camp. They were no longer in the water
anymore, now they were gracefully gliding on the water in canoes. The boys
found themselves under the radiant sun, surrounded by the aroma of the sweet
pine trees, captured by the natural picture of a doe with her twin foundling's
drinking water from the river. What a way to spend the afternoon with your best
friend.
On the last day
of camp the kids were surrounded by a sweet sadness. The two weeks were filled
with a few days of homesickness and a lot of days full of fun. Finally, the
atmosphere was filled with the overwhelming emotions of leaving behind a so
many new friends. The memories will last a lifetime.