Camp is my place, your place, and our place

The first year Isla came to overnight camp was a hard one for her family—Isla was attending Teomul, our special program for bereaved siblings. Camp had been her older brother Caleb’s special place, where he had spent two weeks each summer during his battle with leukemia, before he passed away. Our team stayed in touch with the family, and let them know that camp wasn’t just a place for Caleb—it was a place for all of them.

Isla decided to give a weekend at camp a try, and was immediately surrounded by kids who had been through the same experience of losing their sibling to cancer. That summer, Isla’s brother Kevin was ready to try camp too. Together, they have attended Teomul every year since then—nine summers!

“It’s kind of cool,” Isla says, “to have something that you and your brother do together every year, for such a long time, and it’s not about your parents. It’s about the two of you and a community of kids just like you.”

Over the years, Isla has had the chance to perform at multiple campfires, learn to play the ukulele, and improve her singing. “She’s a phenomenal singer,” our music specialist Ken says, “and getting better every year.” Isla also had the chance to take part in a Slaight Music songwriting workshop with Canadian recording artist Kayla Diamond.

“Isla was so pumped to spend time with her and show her what she was working on for closing campfire.” Ken says he could see it in her animated expression and in the lyrics she helped create—camp is truly her place now too.

*Camper and family names and images have been changed to protect privacy