MDA Camp 2008

I just got home yesterday from MDA camp. It was seriously the best one I have ever had in 5 years of volunteering. My camper Kelsi and I had our own room pretty much the whole week so it was much more comfortable. We had THE BEST group ever. MAVERICK PRIDE! We dominated almost everything and ended up winning by a landslide compared to the other groups. But most of all, I got to know so many amazing people and hang out with the kids who are my heroes.
If any of you ever get a chance, I would recommend taking a week off next summer and volunteering for this camp. It will change your life. I am humbled every single time I go. I am incredibly grateful for my health. I take advantage of being able to do little things as simple as brushing my own teeth, picking something off the table, and being able to get comfortable in bed every night without someone there to move my body into a certain position. Those are the type of things I help Kelsi do each year along with much much more. I can not imagine not being able to do things on my own, and these kids live every moment of every day relying on other people.

What is especially sad is the fact that there is no cure for this disease. These kids talk all the time about how excited they are for doctor's to find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy, but a lot of them will not live long enough to see it happen. Some of the kids, like Kelsi, are still even a mystery to doctor's on what type of MD they have. It is so complex that they can not figure it out, let alone try to find a cure for it. It breaks my heart each year to have to leave because you never know which kids will be there next year, and which ones will pass on. I can truly say it is the one thing I have done in my life that has made me into the person I am today. I have learned to have so much compassion for everyone, no matter who they are or what they look like. It is something that is incredibly dear to my heart.

Even if you can not make it as a volunteer, please donate during the telethons or the "Fill the Boot" drive the Firefighters do. It will help the kids I love continue to have a fighting chance to survive and hopefully one day find a cure for muscular dystrophy.