Monday, June 20, 2011

Camp Make A Dream


I'm sorry I haven't been updating the blog.  I've been in "withdrawn" mode lately...

Tanner is doing well and has been at Camp Make A Dream outside of Missoula Montana since last Wednesday.  He's been texting and sending photos every day and it sounds like he's having the time of his life.


I know that he's feeling the sadness of his time at camp drawing to a close (they come back home this Wednesday) but he says that he's made lifelong friends.  Everyone attending camp are all near his age and - each and every one of them has cancer.

I can't wait to get all the details when he gets home but I can tell you he hasn't let the cancer, the weak broken left tibia, or the recently placed rod in his right femur slow him down.  He's been hiking, horseback riding, zip lining, and walking the tightropes 40 feet off the ground.  They've had cookie bake offs, put on skits, and had some long discussions about issues that they all have to face when dealing with the impact cancer has on their lives.

He said they all wrote a message to someone who means a lot to them and hung the messages in the air.  At the end of the week they will burn the messages so that they become "final".  He told me he wrote a message to his cousin Kelson - who passed away with cancer shortly before Tanner was diagnosed.

He was able to meet his cousin Beth and her mother, Barbara, in Missoula this past Saturday and they spent some time together shopping and just hanging out.  Tanner said they had a great time and I am so very grateful they were able to work their schedule out to spend some time with him while he was up there.

He texted me Sunday night and told me it was so beautiful up there and he wished I was there to experience it with him.  I texted him back that he might be ready to move up there now.  He replied that it would be a big change, but that we needed some big changes in our lives.

I hope with all my heart this trip was a life changing event for him.  He has so much potential and I love him so very very much. 

Life can turn in an instant.  You could walk into an appointment one day and life as you know it can change in a heartbeat...

It's time to let go of the baggage and live this life with all the happiness, love, and hope we can grasp...

1 comment:

  1. Angie: How wonderful that Tanner is able to interact with other young people, with cancer. It sounds like he's having a wonderful time, and is letting nothing slow him down! What a great young man you have raised!

    Hugs & Blessings,

    Sarah

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