Meet Nake from Kamp K'aana

My name is Kevin Garner. I am here on behalf of my son, Nate, who attended Kamp K’aana this Summer, for the first time. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, and share our experiences, as a family.

Nate is 14 years old, and is starting his Sophomore year in high school. LIke many kids his age, he would rather sit at home and play video games, than go outside and play. This is not a new struggle with Nate. It is something that we, as a family, have struggled with over the years. That struggle landed Nate in the Coach Program at Children’s Hospital. Nate has been under the care of the Coach Program for several years now. We had heard about Kamp K’aana, during that time, but life circumstances always seemed to get in the way of Nate going.

This year was the last opportunity Nate would have to go, and I knew it would be an impactful experience. So, I made it my mission to get Nate to Kamp this year. Tracy Burns was a god-send, answering all of my questions, and helping us with a scholarship, to bridge the financial gap. This was the year. I was excited. My wife was excited. Nate was less-than-excited, but knew it would be a one in a lifetime experience, so he played along with our excitement.

Our Kamp experience started off rough. Before we even arrived. A week before Kamp, we were on a beach in Galveston, when Nate started to express his desires to skip out on Kamp. I explained to him that kamp was already paid for, and that he was fortunate to have earned a scholarship to cover some of the costs. I talked about some of my own summer camp experiences in my youth, and tried my best to stir up some excitement. Instead, Nate begrudgingly accepted his fate, and agreed to attend kamp.

There was a spark of excitement when we returned home from vacation and had less than 48 hours to pack everything Nate would need. As the first day of kamp drew closer, Nate seemed to get more excited about “checking it out” (as he would say). That excitement carried over into the first day of Kamp, and the road trip out to Kamp. We thought we had turned the proverbial corner, when Nate willingly unloaded his luggage from the car, and settled into his bunk. We drove away, leaving Nate, feeling positive that he was going to have a good time.

Then, the other shoe dropped. The first phone call from Kamp came on Tuesday of the first week. Apparently, Nate’s canoe had taken a tumble, and Nate’s glasses were now lost, somewhere on the muddy bottom of Possum Kingdom Lake. I think Tracy was surprised that I laughed off the incident. I knew Nate had a spare pair of glasses, but I was more excited about the fact that he had gotten in a canoe. On the lake! Thankfully, Tracy was able to connect me to another Kamp counselor who was in the Dallas area, and had agreed to carry Nate’s spare glasses out to kamp, saving me another road trip.

Then the second call. Tracy wanted to warn us about one of Nate’s letters home. Nate had apparently put much care and thought into expressing his displeasure with his parents for sending him to such a “dreadful” place. He laid out his case as to why we should immediately drop everything, and come rescue him. His letter was eloquent at times, and angry at others.

He politely, but sternly, demanded that he be allowed to come home. I assured Tracy that no rescue was coming. Nate was there for the long-haul, and she was welcome to explain that to him. In hindsight, it was probably unfair to Tracy to lay that burden on her.

Then, the third call. Only a couple of days later. We were still in the first week of Kamp at this point! Nate had been involved in an incident with a young lady. Apparently, she punched Nate a few times, in a playful manner. But, as sensitive, teen boys sometimes do, Nate took it the wrong way at first. Thankfully, he recovered, and accepted that the young lady was playing, and did not intend to injure him.

Thankfully, the second week of Kamp was uneventful. My wife and I breathed a sigh of relief. Nate’s letters had calmed down, although he was still expressing his displeasure for being “locked away” at Kamp for a second week.

Before we knew it, the second week was over, and it was time to make the road trip back out to Kamp, to pick up Nate. When I arrived, I was excited to learn that Nate had lost almost 15 pounds! In just 2 weeks! That news stoked my excitement to learn more about Nate’s kamp experience.

My wife was not able to join the trip, so I had the opportunity to talk to Nate, man-to-man, for a couple of hours, as we drove home. I asked Nate if enjoyed kamp. His answer, in typical Nate fashion, was thoughtful and measured: 50-50. I asked him to explain. He said that 50% of kamp was fun and enjoyable, and 50%, well, not so much. We talked about all the fun things he had gotten to do at kamp. He told me all about the canoe incident, swimming, the boats, fishing, and archery. I took the opportunity to ask him what he enjoyed most. He actually couldn’t decide whether it was riding on the boats, fishing, or archery.

When life returned to a somewhat normal state after Kamp, Nate enjoyed his final free week at home, before summer Band practice started. But, we noticed that Nate was doing a few things differently. Things he had picked up at kamp, no doubt. Nate was tracking his calories. He was making better food choices. Even his attitude about kamp started to soften. I asked him how he felt about kamp now that he was back home, and had a chance to enjoy a week off. His reply this time: 70-30. It’s a passing grade, so I’ll take it.

Fast forward to today. Here we are, about a month after Kamp ended. Nate has lost 4 more pounds, and is still doing a great job of tracking his food, and watching his calorie choices. He’s wrapped up summer band practice, and the new school year has started. Occasionally, we even catch him talking to his friends about Kamp, or telling us a story about something that happened at kamp.

As a parent, I will forever sing the praises of Kamp K’aana. Nate and I will be talking about it for years to come. Especially the canoe. I’m not letting him forget that one.