Some thoughts about Family Camp
I am the lucky mom of three wonderful children, the youngest having had Type 1 Diabetes for nine years. As much as we all know we would do absolutely anything for our child to not have been dealt these cards, diabetes has opened the door to so many friends and opportunities. We have chosen to embrace our situation and take full advantage of the new doors that are open.
Family Retreat, Camp Sealth and now ConnecT1D Family Camp are a few of the opportunities we have enjoyed over the years. Programs like these have really become an anchor for how we deal with her diabetes. For the past seven years we attended Family Retreat. Year after year it has become one of the most important weekends to us. There can’t be enough said about the feeling you have when you meet and spend the weekend with other parents dealing with the same situation that actually “get it.” Kids experience the same thing by seeing and meeting other kids and adults that are just like them; they learn they are not the only ones. My daughter used to get so excited just to see other kids checking their blood sugar and maybe even having the same meter! Our older children also loved the weekend. They are so happy to have had the opportunity to be counselors and to have a better understanding and patience for living with someone with Type 1.
We truly cherish the friends that we have made at Family Retreat and look forward to seeing many of them this year at ConnecT1D Family Camp. We leave each year feeling refreshed and ready to tackle anything that comes our way. Some of the friendships made at these camps have turned out to be for a lifetime. I will never forget driving home one Sunday and hearing my little girl say, “I am so happy that I have diabetes. If I didn’t we would have never been able to come to this camp.”
I hope to see you this October at camp!
Jeannie Hall