When most of us think of the word "tradition", it brings us back to a memory or a group of memories that we are very, very fond of. This memory, or these memories, usually surround a specific holiday, or special occasions such as a birthday, Christmas celebration, or Thanksgiving family get together. Regardless of what the tradition is surrounding, it's an undisputed fact that if something has truly become a tradition, we want it to be able to continue just that way for decades, if not centuries to come.
In 1995, I was introduced to a place called Camp Courage by a physical therapist of mine at the time. I must admit that when she first told me, I was very, very skeptical of the whole camp experience, because I had been to a couple camps "for disabled people" prior to this point, and had ended up coming home more scared than anything else. However, when she told me that the session that I would be in was starting in three days, something inside of me told me that I needed to give one more camp a shot. Looking back, I honestly don't know what I would've done if I would've passed up this opportunity like I was originally going to.
The instant I arrived, I knew this place was something special, and I knew I had made the right decision. More important than that though, was the fact that my mom was completely comfortable leaving me there, and as she was leaving on the day of check-in, she didn't even give it a second glance. Now, this may not seem like much to some, but as she has told me many times since that initial day, she takes great comfort in the fact that I will not only be able to go somewhere where I feel like I can completely fit in, but she will also know that I am, and will be for that entire week, completely taken care of. Since 1995, there have only been two summers that I have missed going to this wonderful, almost indescribable place. The one summer I missed was because of a health issue, and the other was because of a scheduling conflict. Believe me, I did everything I could to try to make sure that that scheduling conflict wasn't going to be an issue, but I just couldn't do enough.
Part of the "camp tradition" is that every year as soon as I get the application, I start counting down the days until I will go to what I call my personal Disneyland! Applications usually arrive sometime in late December, or early January, so they are very predictable in that respect. In early November this year, I checked the camp web site to see what the dates were going to be. I was ecstatic when I discovered that they had made the session that I usually go to longer by four days! Woo hoo, even more time for me to spend in Disneyland, how could I say no to that?
A couple weeks later, all returning campers received a letter in the mail saying that camp applications would be coming, but that there were going to be some major changes this year, and the camping staff wanted to make sure that we at least had somewhat of an idea of these changes before we got the applications. The letter went on to say that due to a lack of funding, and therefore a lack of staff ,they would no longer be accepting people on ventilators, people with feeding tubes, people who took a large number of medications, people who took medication at odd times of day, or, and this is the one that hit me personally the hardest, people that require a large ratio of staff for transfers.
As soon as I saw that, I immediately got on the phone with the director, told him that I was at least a two person transfer, and asked him about would be a problem. He said no, that a two-person transfer wasn't what they were talking about. Now that I at least had that little peace of mind, all I could do was wait for the application to arrive, fill it out, send it back, and hope for the best. A few weeks after I talked to Roger, the camp director, I did get the application in the mail. As my mom was helping me fill it out, we noticed that there were some even bigger changes than we had anticipated. First, and most prevalent, was the fact that they now had numbers scales for every activity, even down to eating and drinking. You had to rate yourself from no assistance, to total assistance, and anywhere in between. At the end of the application, you had to add up all the numbers from those scales, and put the total in this little box. Although at this point I can't say for sure, I'm pretty sure that that total score is how they're going to decide which people they're going to accept, and which they aren't.
Now, I am total assistance with all of my ADLs (Activities of Daily Living), which means that my total score was extremely high. Granted, I would hope that they're not going to accept someone whose care level they can't meet safely, so I'm not really worried about that. If I get accepted, they obviously have the staff to take care of me. However, here's where I do have a problem with the situation, and it's really my entire point for writing here. If you have a lack of staff, and the lack of funding, and you're going to accept people like myself who are completely dependent on you, doesn't something eventually have to suffer? If the answer is yes, and the care isn't going to suffer, what's left? In my opinion, and I must admit that right at this second it's not very humble, it has to be the entire experience.
Even if I get accepted, do I really want to go if there's not going to be enough staff to help me enjoy the activities that have become such a tradition during this week of my summer? Again, granted, if I get accepted, obviously that means that they felt they had enough staff to meet my daily needs, but what about swimming, horseback riding, the campouts, etc., etc., etc.? For the first time in a long time, or maybe even ever, I'm feeling like my disability may just be going to hold me back from something I love so very very much, and that hurts, probably more than some people will ever know, or want to admit!
I understand that in many, many, many cases change is a good thing, and we all need to experience it now and then, even if it means breaking tradition. However, I am also a firm believer in the fact that some things, because they are so special, shouldn't be subjected to the changes that life and/or the economy will bring it, and this is one of them! Granted, I could bring my own staff with me, and then the idea of being "too much work" wouldn't be an issue at all, but again what's the point? If I really wanted them to take care of me for that week, I would just stay here, and not even go to a camp. Like I said earlier, camp is my Disneyland, and it has been since I started going, and who doesn't want a change of pace when they go somewhere as special as Disneyland? I know I sure do!
I sent my application, along with the application fee on Friday, so now all I can do is wait and see if I did accepted, and I will make sure that I post that information here as soon as I have it. In closing though, next time any of you are doing something that means anything to you, do me a favor and think about whether you actually consider it a tradition, and what you would do if that tradition was taken away from you in some capacity. All of us need to be thankful for what we may have at any given moment, because none of us ever really know if we're going to have the opportunity to continue to have any of the things that we hold near and dear, and actually consider tradition for any length of time.