"You amaze me - Camp Good Days && Special Times"

No one can truly say they understand

When they haven't spent a week

Under the stars

In the rain

Though the heat of the sun

And hand in hand

With people who mean so much

This was my third year being a volunteer at Camp Good Days and Special Times during the Doing A World of Good Week. Even though I spend most of my time being surrounded by people who have been there tripled the time I have, I still feel as if I have been going there for years and years and really, I couldn't imagine feeling any different.

This week was the best week of my life. For some reason, being a counselor during this week felt much different from the years past. I felt secure and alive. I felt that even though people were contantly joking with me and everyone else, that their jokes were only showing me how much they cared. There were many new campers this week and maybe that was what was different. Maybe the fact that my two orginal campers, Amber and Taisey, weren't in my cabin anymore - made my time spent that much different, allowing me to meet new amazing campers and people.

The thing about spending a week with cancer survivors and children still going through treatment, is that it makes you realize how fragile life is. This week, I felt so close to everyone. The campers really confided in me and told me stories about when they were really sick and really feeling low. They told me jokes about the hospital and about the doctors they loved and didn't care for. They told me how lucky they were to be at a place where everyone has something in common - a terrible sickness and a love of life.

Even after the campers went to sleep, the volunteers made jokes about their pasts. Most of us being cancer survivors as well, allowed ourselves to be open with one another about the memories we had when we were near death. We talked about the types of cancer we had and the marks on us that made it real. We joked about how certain kinds can be considered the flu and how some wished they could have been sick during school so they could have had time off. Many people don't really understand, but when you are at Camp - you learn to.

This week at Camp Good Days was my third and most memorable week yet. From getting shaving creamed, water ballooned, dunked, and TP'd to playing games on the playground, cuddling under the stars and joking about our past - one thing is for sure, I could never survive without this place. I could never imagine a world without this camp.

"Because a world without Camp Good Days, isn't really a world at all."

Miss&&Love:

Jasmine, Alyssa 'Jo-Jo,' Ericka, Erin G., Amy, Nick aka Charlie Brown, Ryan, Justin, Chris, Jomo, Mary, Matt, Pete, Rob, Chad, Greg, Erin I., Megan, The Campers and sooooo many more!