Another Camp Winning Hands Adventure (2013)

Well, this was our second year driving up through the hills of Livermore to Camp Winning Hands. This year was different. We had a year of school under our belt. And we, as parents, felt much better about our community. Elijah on the other hand, had a bit of a rough year. He had an amazing teacher in kindergarten this year who bent over backwards for him, but it was also a year of understanding that he looked "different" from other kids.

We never really taught him that he looked different, we chose instead to let him figure it out on his own. Oh the woes of these decisions. Should we have talked to him more about it? Would he even understand? We asked him last year if he noticed anything about the kids at camp, he promptly answered that they had hand differences. But he did not see any similarities between him and the kids.

It wasn't until school hit this year and a ton of kids would ask him daily why he looked different and if he was born that way that he started to really FEEL different. We noticed him pulling out all of his hair, and being more clingy to us when we dropped him off. He wouldn't talk much about his day. It was hard. But he eventually developed a track to say on his own and we encouraged and loved on him as best we could. The year ended up being pretty good. Then summer hit.

I mentioned before that he had a breakdown on the 4th of July after a craft project we did involving hands. He questioned why God made his hands that way? It was really challenging to answer without crying. Not because I pity him but because I could fully understand how I would feel the same way. And so, it was after that little heartbreak that we drove to Camp Winning Hands and were greeted very warmly by a few little boys who looked just like him. He immediately noticed this year, and started to smile and play with them.

He enjoyed his time with us, but we watched him break out a little more and begin to make some real strides at feeling like he belonged. Last year, was all about us getting answers, meeting others and understanding things. This year, was all about Elijah; building his confidence and allowing him to make friends where he could just be himself. All of the volunteers there have such kind hearts, and are really
committed to helping these kids. It's such an emotional thing to watch.


And so... without further adieu, I give you a video of Elijah's Hand Camp experience:

http://vimeo.com/69916898