24 Years Cancer-Free
When I was growing up, I used to go to a summer camp that was for current and former pediatric cancer patients. It was the only place I wasn’t “the girl with cancer.” That alone kept me going year after year. Although it was your traditional summer camp with silly songs, outdoor activities, and camp crushes, the week was peppered with poignant reminders that its young campers were or had been seriously sick. Our jokes were often very dark, but it was so freeing to express oneself in a manner without having to soften the blows. We had fun. It was a special place for me, and for many others.
There was a silent conversation amongst us campers knowing that not all of our camp friends would make it to camp the following summer. The unspoken weight of surviving. Each year we would plant a tree in memory of former campers who were no longer with us. Everyone had the opportunity to add a cup of soil to the ground for the dedicated tree and to take a moment to think of their friends who were no longer Earth-side.
This tradition gave me a tangible example of how to grow purpose out of pain. Creating beauty when you’re in an ugly storm of struggle and adversity. I can only imagine think how magnificent the trees we planted at camp must be now.
No matter what life throws at us, I hope we all can plant trees along the way.
Happy St. Joseph’s Day! And Happy Spring!
