Camp songs and forgivness

Sunday at work I got a phone message from a friend that I have'nt talked to in awhile. Jasmin let me know that our camp friend Chiqita has been fighting lung cancer and the cancer is winning. She has two weeks at the most the doctors said. Chiqita has no one and Jasmin is far away in another state. It was time to rally the troops so that is what I have been doing the last few days.

You see like many young women I spent my summers as a camp counselor at a Girl Scout camp. Every summer I bounded with many other staff members as we taught young campers how to be kids and how to try new things in a safe environment. The staff became a family over the years, we grew up together, found out who we are, found our strenghs and weekness. When we need help we had others to help us out. I haven't worked at the summer camp in many years but that is still my home.

When I got the call about Chiqita I haven't spoken with her in years. A couple of years ago she got addicted to meth and became homeless. Many of us took her in one after the other even though she stole from everyone to pay for her habit. Finally she ended up at Jasmin's house, at the end of that stay Jas had to take her to a treatment center to get clean. She got clean but in the process she lost most of her friends. Now at the end all that she has asked for is camp songs and forgivness. People that were so hurt but they have forgiven all that has happened in the past, and now they are calling her all day and night just to sing her songs on her voicemail. This life has been so hard on Chiqita but at least we all were able to give her and hundreds of others a safe place to shetlered and to be loved.

The next few days will be hard but I made a promise to bring camp to her if I couldn't bring her to camp. So I am now off to the hospital to bring her pictures of heaven and cds of songs to fill up the empty sounds. Once you are family you are family for all times good and bad and forgivness is given before it is asked for.