Our Adaptive Winter Sports Program is well underway and our campers and families are enjoying every minute of it. This weekend was our first family sleepover weekend and it was truly amazing to see how much our families benefit from the program. We had 18 families join us for a Circus themed winter weekend.
It always surprises me how quickly the families bond and start to share their life experiences with each other. Double H is a place of acceptance and the families pick up on this and know that everyone who is at Double H has a story to share and is willing to listen.
One of my favorite moments of the weekend was during our Talent Show. We had a variety of acts: origami making, hula hooping, singing, dancing and a theatrical version of Sleeping Beauty. Towards the end of the show, Marc, one of the ski instructors took the microphone and expressed how impressed he was with the talent in the room but that he knew of someone else that had talent but wasn’t able to perform it in the lodge. He explained that Juan, the student he was skiing with, was here at Double H learning to ski for the first time. Marc then shared that earlier in the day on the mountain Juan had learned to ski backwards. He asked Juan to stand up and take a bow. Juan, slightly embarrassed, took a bow in front the crowd while everyone cheered and screamed. As Juan sat down a smile crept across his face and he looked so proud.
The next day Marc came over to me with a hand written note from Juan. It thanked Marc for helping Juan learn to ski and for announcing at the talent show that he could ski backwards. It was amazing to see the relationship between Marc and Juan grow throughout the weekend. Marc was able to teach Juan how to ski; however, Juan was also able to teach Marc something much more important.
We talk a lot about magic here at camp and how we are able to accomplish the unimaginable. The magic of the Double H is brought on by our campers. They bring their energy, love and joy to camp and that’s what creates our magic. Juan’s pride in himself provides us all with magic and keeps us working hard to make Double H a place of comfort and support for our campers and families. We are excited for the next four family sleepover weekends and for those little moments that inspire us.