Today marks the beginning of Simply Camp Periwinkle! Over the course of this week, 185 campers will unpack their Camp in a Box materials in their own home and connect online for a week of fun, exploration, friendship and all things camp!

Although camp may look and feel a little differently this summer as we navigate a virtual community together, we know it will still be the best camp ever! As we make new traditions this week, we reflect on another tradition that has been established out at camp in Camp Periwinkle’s 37 year history! Enjoy this little glimpse into life at Camp Periwinkle, and Make It A Splendid Week – from wherever you are!

The Camp Periwinkle Tradition

I went fishing and kissed a fish. It’s a Camp Periwinkle tradition. If you haven’t been to camp, now you know! It felt slimy. And then it tried to bite me. I almost dropped it! To get it to calm down, I traced my hand down its back by its fin. Sometimes it calmed down; sometimes it didn’t. It flinched and moved around. Even though it was slimy and slippery, I caught it. Barely!

I almost caught a fish 26-inches long. It was big! It pulled and pulled and it yanked the bait off the hook. When we went fishing, we put bad leftovers on the hook.

Weird thing: It actually ate bad leftovers. The stuff that people barely ate. The things I didn’t get seconds on. But not the pizza. I totally got fourths and fifths of pizza! Everybody wants pizza!

I even hooked myself a little. It hurt and felt sharp! In my mind I yelled “AHHH….AHHH…AHHH!!!” But it was worth it to do fishing. It’s always worth it!

Joey, age 10

This entry is a part of our series “Make it a Splendid Week”! Follow along weekly to enjoy excerpts from The Splendid Review, an anthology of poems, short stories and autobiographies written by talented young writers engaged in the Periwinkle Arts In Medicine Program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers.