Time Away

We had a plan. 

RJC was going to go to her special needs overnight camp for two weeks, for the first time since the summer of 2019. She had been a camper there for quite a few years, though she had not gone in 2020 or 2021 due to Covid. The plan was that we were going to "staycation" for the first week because I am too anxious to be away when she first goes to camp; annoyingly so as we have learned from past experience. The second week we made reservations at a hotel about two hours away, and then we were going to visit friends for two nights before picking her up at the end of the camp session.  You know what they say about the best laid plans.

The first week was cancelled due to Covid issues and we were on edge waiting to hear about the second week. We do not tell RJC about camp until the day before she leaves so at least there would be no unnecessary anxiety if camp was actually cancelled. I had been storing her camp clothing and items at a neighbor's house so she truly had no idea that she may be going. Near the end of the first week, we did receive an email explaining the steps they took to make camp as safe as possible, and the second week was on. We let RJC know she was going to camp and we were quite excited to know we would still be able to have some time by ourselves. In the past couple of years we had gone alone for an overnight for less than 24 hours. We had been looking forward to a real vacation.

We dropped her off at camp and about an hour later, after taking care of administrative issues, we were on our way.  It is always a bit...weird...to find ourselves alone for any extended period of time. It takes time to get used to the quiet, takes time to realize that we can eat where and when we prefer, it takes time to remember we don't need to use "code words" or pantomime to communicate. I'd estimate it took about a day for us to adjust and we truly made the best of our time together.

Our hotel was very close to the water, so I was able to meditate outdoors in the morning, we went for walks, to a museum, on a sailboat (a replica of an 1812 privateer schooner), visited the oldest candy store in the U.S., toured a famous home, had ice cream (of course!), and I even bought...clothes...GASP! We met a friend we hadn't seen in thirty years for lunch - special for sure. The weather was gorgeous, and it did not take us long at all to find our groove. Amazingly, I had zero anxiety the entire time. We felt good about her being at camp as we have kept our world very small these last few years and we wanted her to have this experience to be with other people and to see that there really is still a big world out there.

The last few days of our vacation we spent with our very good friends - you know - the kind of friends who are more like family. It was fun and relaxing! A great afternoon spent on their boat, lots of yummy meals, took a nice walk, and chatted the days away. It was such a great ending to a great week and the time seemed to zip by.

When we dropped RJC off at camp, we set up a schedule of times she could make her calls and told the staff she could call us or her sister. Each call she made was to her sister. Now one may think we would be upset, but in truth, it made our hearts happy. They have a very special bond for which we are always grateful.

The week came to an end, and we picked up our gal from camp and headed home. We were all quite tired. The best news is that she did great at camp - we received no phone calls about any issues! A first in all the years she'd been going!

We have only been home one day, and we can see she is trying to readjust to being home. She is somewhat frantic about organizing the refrigerator and going over the calendar. She's been loud at times, and we are trying to readjust to that reality. Admittedly, it is a tough one. There is pretty constant noise around our house.  

That being said, there is a comfort and familiarity in having her at home. She is looking forward to getting back to her consistent schedule.  Hopefully her short time away enhanced her feeling of independence and made her more confident and comfortable about being with other people. For us, it helped us to appreciate the importance of spending time together. We have resolved to find more opportunities for her to practice independence and for us to have time for us. Now to actually do it...