Dropping off Lucy for her First low-vision summer camp

Dropping off Lucy for her first low-vision summer camp wasn’t a cakewalk I tell you. We have been prepping for this for a long time. But you’re never quite ready to leave your child at a camp. Especially when it’s five weeks long, and you’re not sure how that girl will fare.

As Lucy’s vision continues to dwindle she finds it more and more difficult to cope with being “left behind.” Honestly, it’s pretty sweet to see how she celebrates these fellow teenagers who keep marching on into different things she can’t do. But she wants to do anything she can to somehow “keep up.” One of the things she is dying to do is get a job. And as you might imagine, getting a job when you can’t see very well is really tricky. So we are more grateful than I can ever say for the “Teen to Work” Summer camp she is doing right now.

Our hopes with this “Teen to Work” camp

As I mentioned, this whole thing has been a work in progress for over a year now. Oh how we have hoped and prayed our guts out for this opportunity. We feel like it will help her not only with finding a job, writing a resume, interview skills, etc. But we feel like it has the potential to help her with so much more:

• Social opportunities. We are SO hoping she’ll meet some other kids she can relate to and confide in who also deal with vision loss.
• Low-vision resources. There are classes for adaptive technology, orientation and mobility, etc.
• Since she’s living there she is sure hoping there will be some experts who can teach her more day-to-day low-vision living skills. Things like tips and tricks for measuring and cutting and cooking and baking. She wants to learn tips on doing things like clipping her nails and figuring out how her hair looks when she can’t see. How does she differentiate between the different amounts of dollar bills? How do blind people know if their clothes match?

Well, as I type, Lucy has completed the first of her five weeks at this summer camp.

And she is doing it with flying colors. (With some big emotions on the side.)

This has not been easy. From the moment we explained what this camp is to Lucy up until now, we have all been bundles of nerves. It’s like we’ve been on a roller coaster ride. But she’s doing it!

I know I’ll have so much more to report later, but for now let’s talk about the drop-off.

Getting ready for Summer Camp

After we returned from our little family time in California, Lu and I got to work getting her all packed up for camp. Dave was on the high adventure camp for the young men in our ward, so he missed out on the prep work, but got here for the drop-off!

Of course, sometimes you just need to start prepping for camp by making some pumpkin waffles for dinner:

Ha! Lucy was completely delighted by this since I’m not a breakfast-for-dinner type of a girl. She obviously is!

She had the opportunity to hang out with a friend the night before she left. She doesn’t get to do this very much these days so she was walking on cloud nine about that. While she was gone she missed these three cutest visitors ever, who came go give her a “camp survival kit.”

Seriously, some people have the best ideas and the kindest hearts. You can see how excited Lu was about that sweet gesture there above.

That last night, we read our book together and snuggled for the last time for a while. Dave was home by then and joined us for prayers:

Don’t let these pictures fool you too much. Lucy looks so happy, and she was. But she was also really, really nervous. This is scary business.

She asked Dave for a father’s blessing in the morning before we loaded up the car. It was so, so good. I love their faces in this picture, so well showing their feelings:

We FacetTimed with all these sisters on the way to the college campus where the camp is held.

Best cheerleaders ever.

The Summer Camp drop-off

We signed in and headed to Lucy’s dorm room. So interesting and also heart-warming to be surrounded by so many others all using white canes as we maneuvered our way to unpack.

We helped get things situated. Lu was worried there wasn’t enough light so Dave ran to Walmart to grab a lamp. The furniture configuration just didn’t make sense to her so we rearranged her room a few times until it felt right. We showed her where everything was. Found that the microwave has Braille on it. Showed her the places to turn on and off lights. How to turn on the shower. Arranged everything where she could feel for it.

We were little mother-hens trying to make sure she was as comfortable as could be.

And then we had a little prayer huddle and left that girl.

For five weeks.

I know she can do this, and part of me celebrates for the opportunity.

But as we drove away, another part of me thought that maybe I was the one who can’t do it after all.

Since then, we have had some ups and downs. But the ups have far outweighed the downs. It has been so good for my mama heart to go from seeing her on FaceTime at first only in her bedroom all alone the first few days to gradually being out in the main living area of her dorm room. And by now, when we talk there are other people around. And she is laughing and talking with them while she talks to me.

Yes, that does a mama’s heart good.

Praying for that girl every day. Please join me if you have extra prayers to offer!