What I love about Camp Periwinkle –

I love how camp makes me feel like a normal kid again.  Not “the girl who was ill,” not someone different -just me.  And I love how many things I can get involved in, like everything is open to you and nothing feels out of reach.

I love the friends I’ve made at camp.  In normal life, at school or just day to day, it can a actually be really hard to make friends.  Sometimes it feels like no one really understands you.  But at Periwinkle, it’s different.  I was so happy at how quickly I made friends, it just happened so naturally.

I love all the activities and getting stuck into everything.  But some of my favorite moments aren’t even the big things, they’re the quiet ones.  Sitting on the grass between activities, talking with your friends, making daisy chains, laughing about nothing and everything at the same time.

I love the bus rides to camp, catching up with everyone and laughing about all the memories we’ve made at past camps.  If feels like no time has passed at all.

I love that every camp brings new people too.  There are always newcomers, and somehow they become part of it all so quickly.  Your circle just keep growing.

But I think the thing I love most is that everyone just gets it.  You don’t have to explain yourself or your story.  You can talk about anything, or nothing, and it still feels important.  Sometimes you stay up way too late just talking in your cabin, because you don’t want the moment to end.

And I event love the goodbyes.  They’re really hard, and you never want to leave. But at the same time, there’s this feeling – you know you’ll be back, and you already can’t wait for the next summer.

Periwinkle isn’t just a camp, it’s a place where you feel like yourself again.  And once you’ve felt that, it stays with you.

Amelie – Age 14