Finding Home
Growing up, many people told me that being different was a good thing; and it truly can be—if you actually want to be different. If you were like me though, all you ever wanted was to fit in because being different was always a source of pain, or a reason for being stared at, and sometimes, the cause of people making fun of you. For people who have medical conditions, being “just like everyone else” was like finding the home you always wanted. That home was a metaphor for being loved and protected by people that accepted you for the person you were in your heart and in your soul. It was a dream home that understood and appreciated your differences and realized that you do have abilities and talents. Now, I have lived in many houses in my lifetime, and I guess that I have liked different things about each one of them. Over time, though, those houses didn’t meet my family’s needs anymore, so we sold them and moved on to others. However, there’s a home I’ve never had to leave or sell, and it’s been several years now since I found the home of my dreams. That house has a name, and it’s called Camp Reynal.
In May of 2009, I was thirteen and Camp Reynal was my first experience in finding the kind of home that I had been looking for. The strange thing was that I didn’t even know I had been looking for it. I had struggled a lot with the limitations, pain, doctor’s visits, tests, surgery, and diet restrictions of my kidney problem since I was diagnosed at age seven. It was embarrassing to me that my friends, teachers, and relatives all knew that I had a kidney problem. With my kidney problems, I also had AD/HD, severe allergies to all types of nuts, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I especially had a hard time coping with everything when I got into middle school, so I started seeing a counselor. She suggested that my parents find me a support group for kids with medical issues, preferably kidney diseases. My parents couldn’t find any local support groups for kids like me, but my mom did find Camp Reynal. When we got the news that I was going to get to go to Camp Reynal, I was so happy that I would finally get to meet and interact with kids who were just like me. I had never experienced that. I wondered what the other kids’ lives were like and what all we had in common. I was also scared because I knew some kids at camp would be on dialysis, and I was fearful that one day I might have to go on dialysis too.
When I got to Camp Reynal on the first day, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. My parents drove me to the facility called Camp John Marc from our house near Houston. They helped me take my belongings to the cabin, which would be my home for the week while I was at camp. Then, my parents told me to have some fun and then they said goodbye. The most fulfilling journey of my short life was slowly unfolding and I had no idea of what was in store for me in those first few minutes. Over that week at camp, I grew so much. I began to heal my heart and my soul by being in the company of kids just like me, with adults that really cared about each and every one of us. That week, I tried things I had never tried, and I laughed like I couldn’t remember laughing since before I was diagnosed. One day at camp, I even wore a dress on a dare! I never once worried that someone would make fun of me for it. I would never have done that at my school back home. Camp was full of good memories, and I made a lot of friends there that first year. The food was great, the other campers were friendly, the counselors were awesome, the activities and games were amazing, and the entire experience was one of a kind. I admit that I was sad when camp ended, but I had a lot of good stories to tell my parents on the long drive back to our house.
I attended Camp Reynal for a few more years until I aged out. Over the course of my time as a camper, I learned that Camp Reynal was the only real medicine I had ever needed for all that time. Once I had my first experience at camp, not a day went by that I didn’t think about it and smile. I had always heard that home is what you make it, but I didn’t make Camp Reynal. I just was lucky enough and privileged enough to get to experience it. Life got better for me as I got older. My kidney issues tapered off and improved. I became an Eagle Scout and a pretty good student and athlete. I earned a lot of recognition for my accomplishments in sports, and I was even awarded an academic scholarship to attend college. So, finding my true home allowed me to find myself. At last, I was in a place where I belonged.
It’s kind of ironic to me now that it took me having differences, or being physically different in order to even get to Camp Reynal. In that case, being different was definitely good! That very last day at camp, I took Camp Reynal home with me when I left. Now it lives in my heart, in my memories, and in my soul. When I am feeling down, or different, or doubtful about who I am, I can go there, to my home, any old time I just want or need to go back just by recalling the memories. Camp Reynal is a home I have never wanted to leave, or grow out of, or forget. I only ever wanted to keep adding on to that home year after year from the memories I created there.
- Garrett Marcantel
In May of 2009, I was thirteen and Camp Reynal was my first experience in finding the kind of home that I had been looking for. The strange thing was that I didn’t even know I had been looking for it. I had struggled a lot with the limitations, pain, doctor’s visits, tests, surgery, and diet restrictions of my kidney problem since I was diagnosed at age seven. It was embarrassing to me that my friends, teachers, and relatives all knew that I had a kidney problem. With my kidney problems, I also had AD/HD, severe allergies to all types of nuts, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I especially had a hard time coping with everything when I got into middle school, so I started seeing a counselor. She suggested that my parents find me a support group for kids with medical issues, preferably kidney diseases. My parents couldn’t find any local support groups for kids like me, but my mom did find Camp Reynal. When we got the news that I was going to get to go to Camp Reynal, I was so happy that I would finally get to meet and interact with kids who were just like me. I had never experienced that. I wondered what the other kids’ lives were like and what all we had in common. I was also scared because I knew some kids at camp would be on dialysis, and I was fearful that one day I might have to go on dialysis too.
When I got to Camp Reynal on the first day, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. My parents drove me to the facility called Camp John Marc from our house near Houston. They helped me take my belongings to the cabin, which would be my home for the week while I was at camp. Then, my parents told me to have some fun and then they said goodbye. The most fulfilling journey of my short life was slowly unfolding and I had no idea of what was in store for me in those first few minutes. Over that week at camp, I grew so much. I began to heal my heart and my soul by being in the company of kids just like me, with adults that really cared about each and every one of us. That week, I tried things I had never tried, and I laughed like I couldn’t remember laughing since before I was diagnosed. One day at camp, I even wore a dress on a dare! I never once worried that someone would make fun of me for it. I would never have done that at my school back home. Camp was full of good memories, and I made a lot of friends there that first year. The food was great, the other campers were friendly, the counselors were awesome, the activities and games were amazing, and the entire experience was one of a kind. I admit that I was sad when camp ended, but I had a lot of good stories to tell my parents on the long drive back to our house.
I attended Camp Reynal for a few more years until I aged out. Over the course of my time as a camper, I learned that Camp Reynal was the only real medicine I had ever needed for all that time. Once I had my first experience at camp, not a day went by that I didn’t think about it and smile. I had always heard that home is what you make it, but I didn’t make Camp Reynal. I just was lucky enough and privileged enough to get to experience it. Life got better for me as I got older. My kidney issues tapered off and improved. I became an Eagle Scout and a pretty good student and athlete. I earned a lot of recognition for my accomplishments in sports, and I was even awarded an academic scholarship to attend college. So, finding my true home allowed me to find myself. At last, I was in a place where I belonged.
It’s kind of ironic to me now that it took me having differences, or being physically different in order to even get to Camp Reynal. In that case, being different was definitely good! That very last day at camp, I took Camp Reynal home with me when I left. Now it lives in my heart, in my memories, and in my soul. When I am feeling down, or different, or doubtful about who I am, I can go there, to my home, any old time I just want or need to go back just by recalling the memories. Camp Reynal is a home I have never wanted to leave, or grow out of, or forget. I only ever wanted to keep adding on to that home year after year from the memories I created there.
- Garrett Marcantel