Camp Simcha 2022
As a younger kid, I always dreamed of going to sleep away camp. My elementary and middle school summer vacations consisted mostly of sitting at home, not doing much. My friends were never available to hang out, or, as I may have said in elementary school, have “play dates.” As you may have guessed, this was because they all spent their summers at sleep away camp. Especially when I was really young, I never really understood the excitement behind being away from your parents for sometimes as long as two months, but all I can remember is how badly I wanted to understand and experience this excitement for myself.
In July of 2022, the summer before I started my first year of high school, I was finally able to experience this excitement for the first time at Camp Simcha. Camp Simcha is a Jewish sleep away camp upstate New York that is specifically for campers either with cancer or that have disabilities. There are four separate sessions throughout the summer, one for boys with cancer, one for girls with cancer, one for boys with disabilities, and another for girls with disabilities. I was assigned two counselors about a month before camp that would assist with the majority of my care like doing cough assist to help me clear out any congestion, taking me to the bathroom, and giving me showers. These two counselors came to my house, also about a month prior, so that we could go over basic medical necessities and how to comfortably move me from my chair to things like the bathroom or the bed, and we instantly formed a connection and I knew that they were a perfect match. Additionally, a few months prior to going to camp, my family and I also met the respiratory therapist at Camp Simcha that would do any trache changes or to help my counselors with anything else they needed.
The day that I arrived at camp, my moms were there for quite awhile as they further trained my counselors on how to take care of me. After many hours of them explaining and demonstrating, they left and I was finally able to get that first hint of excitement that my friends had always told me about. I had never slept somewhere without both of my moms, so this was a huge step for both me and my family.
There was always a schedule that me and other girls my age (or, as called at camp, my division), would follow. There were many activities on the schedule each day such as pottery, baking, and candle-making, which was my personal favorite. Each day, there was also a theme that everyone at the camp would follow, and each of these themes had something to do with time. For example, there was back in time, spare time (which was essentially bowling day), and more.
Going into camp, I didn’t expect to miss my parents one bit. I thought that it would be a pretty easy adjustment, but I won’t deny that I did miss my parents — and my bed — a lot. But, while I did miss my parents, I was still having lots of fun that made up for it. The best day, by far, of camp, was the day that went on the zipline. I had told my counselors and the head staff at camp very early on that I wanted to find a way for me to zipline. There had been many people coming up to me the first few days explaining how hard they were working to try to make it work, and finally, that day had come.
The craziest part about all of this was that to get to the part where I was released onto the zipline, I was lifted up in a cherrypicker- that’s certainly something you don’t do every day! When I reached the top as I was sitting on the cherrypicker, the zipline team could tell that I was feeling nervous, and told me that if I wanted to change my mind, I definitely could. I said to them, “I don’t know if I can do this,” but realized that I have been wanting to go ziplining for my entire life, and that if I didn’t go now, I may never have the opportunity again. So, ultimately, I decided to go, regardless of my fear. I was attached to both the zipline and someone that was holding me as I went down the zipline to make sure that I was in a comfortable position. As they counted down from three, I heard everyone cheering me on. It was an exhilarating, yet terrifying experience. I couldn’t believe what I had just done, and was so proud of myself. They even made a whole video about me and my experience ziplining that was shared to Camp Simcha social media, which you can see below.
I ended up leaving camp two days early due to a medical issue, but I was able to end with a helicopter ride. I had never been on a helicopter before, and this was yet another amazing experience and opportunity. It was super cool to see the entire camp from high up in the sky, and I didn’t realize how big it was until the ride.
Camp Simcha was truly a beautiful and incredible place with some of the best people I have ever met. I am so, so excited to go back next year, and can’t wait to see everyone again. Thank you Camp Simcha for one of the best summers ever!
Photos taken from campsimcha.org
