A Camp HUG reflection by community blogger, Diane Lee
What, might you ask, do
high-ropes, elephants, and golden eggs have in common? Well, if you were lucky enough to attend this
year’s Camp HUG you would understand.
Camp HUG (Hemophilia Uniting Generations) is a family camp weekend offered
to the bleeding disorder community through the Arizona Hemophilia Association
and the Cascade Foundation. It is a
chance for families in this special community to come together and participate
in family oriented activities designed to improve the quality of time families
are able to spend with each other as well as with other families. The camp is a great compliment to the many
activities offered for the different groups within our community.
Our family had not attended
Camp HUG in previous years even though my children had attended the kid’s camp
for many years. Each year we made the
excuse that we had to work and was unable to get away or we had so many other
activities going on and this was not feasible at the time. I figured my kids had enjoyed camp in the
summer and wouldn’t feel they missed out.
My husband and I felt “too old” to go to camp. Boy! Were we wrong!
Having more flexibility with
my time this year, I decided to get more involved with the activities sponsored
by the Association. We had always
attended the Annual Meeting and I had previously attended Washington Days, but
this year I committed to being more involved with BleedHers and my son joined
the EPIC group for teens. When attending
the Women’s Retreat, many of the ladies convinced me that Camp HUG was an event
not to be missed. They were
correct! Thank you, ladies!
After checking in and making
our family crest, Pat Torrey facilitated a great session with the teens and parents. He demonstrated how we make logical decisions
and emotional decisions. He used an
elephant to represent our emotional control and the rider to represent our
logical drives. He gave us pointers on
how to control our path and how to embrace both our rider and elephant. He was
a dynamic leader and inspiring teacher.
Pat’s lessons on how to
control the rider and elephant were put to the test the very next day. My elephant was ready to bolt for the woods
at the thought of walking the high-ropes and taking the zip-line. However, I took his advice and decided to
make my path smaller. I managed to
muster the guts to shimmy up the thirty-six foot pole and planted myself on the
platform poised to “zip” to my certain demise.
Before the climb I had watched my agile teen son scale the pole and
fling himself across the swing bridge and slide silently down to the base of
the zip-line. He was confident, skilled,
and fearless. My daughter then bounded
up the pole and slowly carefully walked her way across the thin rope and she
also slid gracefully down the wire. My
youngest son, being his first time, fearlessly took his first few steps up the
pole. Once he was a good, maybe, five feet
off the ground his elephant took over and was wanting to run for the hills. He started shaking and asking to come
down. My first instinct as a Mom was to
grab him off the pole and hug him. I
listened to my rider and knew he was safely harnessed to an experienced
instructor and all would be fine. We
encouraged him to take a few more strides up.
He was able to make it about half way up the pole before coming
down. As a family we were there to offer
encouragement and consolation and confirmation.
Having witnessed this small triumph with my son, I was more resolute to
experience my own triumph. When it was
my turn, I managed to get a few feet off the ground before my elephant, too,
wanted to run. Hearing my family and
friends assure me and encourage me to continue is the only thing that got me to
the top of the pole. From below, the
pole looked tall, but from atop, it was freakishly high. Hearing my son count down and offer the same
words of encouragement he had just heard, gave me the strength to carry out my
mission. Down I slid, not as quietly as
Anthony nor as gracefully as Amanda but to the bottom just the same. My elephant and rider were in harmony, if
only for a moment. It was joyous!
After our day full of ropes,
zips, crafts, and games, we thought we were done for the weekend. However, there was Sunday, a day of
competition and tournament play. Keeping
with the Indiana Jones theme, families competed in different games seeking
clues and artifacts to fulfill Professor Jones’ challenges. We hunted for hidden golden eggs and lassoed
innocent chairs. We slathered whipped
cream on our heads and fired deadly marshmallows at each other. We wrapped mummies and sought out our missing
family crests. It was great to see
families working together to achieve goals and compete together. Through this weekend, we could witness unity
across generations. Camp HUG was a
success from high-ropes to elephants and to golden eggs. HUG mission accomplished.
-Diane
Send your camp stories to amanda@hemophiliaz.org!
Meet Brent Davila, the newest member to join our team at the AHA. Brent Davila grew up as a camper going to Camp HONOR, and was later a counselor for several years. Brent feels lucky enough to be working to help provide other members of our community with the same wonderful opportunities that he has had. At the AHA, Brent will be focusing his energy on our outreach and advocacy programs. Brent’s goal is to facilitate opportunities that would allow members of the bleeding disorder community to advocate for themselves. Few can understand and explain the challenges that those with bleeding disorders and their families face better than the very people living with these challenges every day. This is why Brent believes the Speaker’s Bureau is such a valuable tool. It gives individuals from our community with a vested interest in the well-being of families with bleeding disorders, a chance to let their voice be heard, and a chance to have a say in the matters that are important to us all. Moving into the future, Brent believes it would benefit the community at large to have an actively involved group of individuals that are comfortable with advocating on their own behalf, and on behalf of people with bleeding disorders everywhere. Brent hopes to help make this a reality. Brent believes that our community has shown that we can accomplish incredible things when we all work together. 
