“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is something I constantly heard as a kid. My whole life I was taught to take what I had been given. If I encountered a problem or a situation that seemed to rock my world, I was taught to take it without complaint because things could be worse. That is easier said than done. I feel like many of the adults I have met have always tried to give me certain pieces of advice in order to try to help, however it never really sticks until I actually experience it for myself. I remember when I was thirteen I experienced a situation that forced me to put things into perspective.

It was the summer of seventh grade and I was about to go away to the summer camp, Victory Junction, which was my sister’s home away from home for the last five years. On the outside it may have seemed like a normal summer camp, but it actually was a camp specifically for people with physical disabilities. It was created by the Petty family in honor of their late son Adam Petty, a famous racecar driver who died a premature death in a racing accident. Adam’s dream was to create a camp like this, but his vision was cut short due to his death at a mere twenty years old. His family decided to honor his legacy by fulfilling his wish of creating the camp that has different sessions of camp devoted to a certain disability or disorder. Not to mention the summer camp is completely free and all of the medical supplies are provided at their clinic.  My sister got the opportunity to go to the camp because she had Spina Bifida, a disabling birth defect where a baby’s spinal vertebrae does not form properly. This leaves the spinal cord partially exposed and causes limited mobility, learning disabilities, and vision problems. My sister’s Spina Bifida is not as severe as most kid’s; this is because my mom opted to participate in experimental surgery that would fix my sister’s spine before she was even born. While the surgery did have its risks, ultimately it was the right choice. It gave her the ability to walk unassisted, a feat no one thought was possible for a kid with Spina Bifida. Even though she has made leaps and bound considering her situation, she still has her limitations which prevented her from doing certain things that are considered a normality to everyone else.

Victory Junction gave her the opportunity to actually go to summer camp and meet people with similar challenges as her.  It is all fueled by donations, so if money allows they hold a sibling’s camp for the brothers or sisters of the campers once a summer. I was lucky enough to be able to go to this sibling camp and the experience was something I will never forget. Once I walked into the camp, I could immediately tell it would be nothing like I was used to. I saw glimpses of the camp when we would drop my sister off, but being in her position just transformed the experience all together. Coming into the property, my mother made a jocular but accurate comment about how it looked like Disney world on steroids and she was not wrong. The first thing to catch my eye as we drifted closer to camp was the vibrant water tower shaped like a hot air balloon. When I first arrived at the camp, it felt like someone plucked me out of my normal life and placed me in a NASCAR fantasy world. Approaching the main road, I could feel my mouth drop as I struggled to take all of it in. All the buildings were dotted along this loop of a road which was made to look like NASCAR race track, with the cafeteria as the main attraction. The cafeteria, or “fuel stop”, stuck with the racing theme and was doused traffic light green paint. Inside those bright walls hung an actual racecar that made everyone, NASCAR fans or not, want to be a part of the magic. But what really caught your eye was when you stepped into a wonderland was called the “game room” building. It was a building that was a giant version of Adam Petty’s racecar and was even complete with his signature number, forty five, plastered on the side. It was as if someone stole a giant’s play car and placed it in the middle of the camp. Everything about that camp was larger than life. It was absolute paradise, but it wasn’t the setting that made this camp feel like home; it was the people.

Walking into my cabin, even the atmosphere seemed to give away the fact that this would not be like anything I had ever experienced. For starters, there were only about ten girls in my cabin and an equal number of counselors. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was going to become closer to these girls in the five days than I some of my friends I had known for years. A big reason for that was probably the fact that we all shared a pretty important characteristic: we all had a sibling or siblings that had a certain disability or disorder. We all had to watch something we couldn’t control beat down our siblings and even though we didn’t have the disability, it still managed to affect us personally and change our personalities. We all had been through differently similar events that changed us as people at a very young age and everyone brought something to the table. At the beginning of the week the girls I met, Brittany, Hannah, Lea, and Katie, were all just faces but throughout the week I uncovered everyone’s hidden stories. On the outside, Brittany was an aspiring boxer who had a knack for crafts, but I later found out her brother had cerebral palsy. And Hannah was impassive at first but later revealed that her sister was a burn survivor. Lea’s sister had cancer and Katie’s brother had muscular dystrophy, but that didn’t change the fact that they both were two of the sweetest people I had ever met. All of the people I met that day would later teach me so much about myself and forever change my outlook on people in general.
We were all together in the oldest cabin, and we got special privileges, like watching a midnight movie or having a glow in the dark swimming party. The counselors would arrange special things for our cabin to do and they really just made us all feel so important. However, one night everything was different. Apparently, our counselors got in big trouble because they snuck us into the movie theater after midnight the night before to watch Freaky Friday. They somberly told us that the camp director found out about the broken curfew and the movie, so she banned our cabin from participating in the activities because we broke the rules. We resigned to bed early by force of the counselors and were told to remain noiseless. We did not want to be silent- but we were. 

The thunder-clouded sky seemed to perfectly reflect our low-spirited attitudes. Even the cheery colors of the passing cabins could not distract us from the fact that our last night at camp was not going to be what we expected. It seemed to be the absolute worst timing because everything was going just perfect. We just came back from the camp closing bonfire after toasting s’mores and talking about what we will do when we return to the normal world the next day. No one wanted it end, but I believed no matter the length I would have never been ready to leave.  Knowing we would be departing the next day just made us crave adventure more, but we all knew that wasn’t going to happen. After around thirty boring minutes of attempted sleep, we all heard a big crash outside our cabin window. All of a sudden, the counselors flooded in banging pots and pans demanding we wake up. They adorned us with blind folds, then quickly led us down the winding dark road to an unknown destination. Even though I was being led by my favorite counselor Ashely, I couldn’t help but feel slightly terrified as she spun me in crazed circles so I “couldn’t tell where we were headed.” Finally, we landed at our destinations dizzy and confused still blindfolded as our counselors sat us down around a bunch of other people in what seemed to be an outdoor pavilion. We were handed little shakers and told to remain silent throughout this “ritual.” They proceeded to ask us to rattle our shakers if any of the questions applied to us. It started out simple like, “shake if your sibling has some form of disease or disorder,” and then you would here a chorus of noise. Then it continued to get more personal as they asked questions like, “shake if you have ever wished to take your siblings position so they wouldn’t have to go through it.” Again, a chorus of noise. At the end of the anonymous tell-all, we were all told to remove our blindfolds and discover our destination: the boat dock. The people we were surrounded around were the all of the members of the older group, boys and girls alike. After we got over the initial shock of being in the middle of the lake at night, the counselors began to explain the purpose of the activity. I remember almost the exact words: “This is the last night of camp and while we have done so many exciting activities, this is probably the most important. You all have siblings who have disabilities and your role in this situation is not always glamourous. It is hard to watch someone you love go through something like that and it is extremely important that you realize you are not alone. You are expected to stay strong most of the times but ocassionally will experience some really ugly emotions like anger or jealousy and forget that unfortunately it is normal. You just heard all that noise when we asked the questions- you are not alone. It is important to not feel pity for yourself because your situation is what makes you unique, but it is also not to try to shoulder the burden all on your own. This week has been all about friendship and bonding; we hope you carry these lessons you’ve learned this week and apply them to the rest of your life.” All of a sudden everything started to piece together; I started to understand I had been learning some of the most important lessons of my life this week and I hadn’t even realized it. An hour before I thought this was going to be a mundane night but it turned out to be the exact opposite. The lessons, the fun, and the friendships all started to sink in as I realized that I will never forget Victory Junction.

What I had learned is that it wasn’t about making do with what you have. Sometimes life is as unfair as it gets and really feel like nothing will go your way, but that is ok. Everyone at one point has to make their own lemonade out of the lemons they were given. Our obstacles make us stronger, however they can also make us forget that everyone else is going through differently similar problems as well. We tend to get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget that everyone else has their own problems. The secret is not learning to just “deal with it” by yourself- it is being mature enough to share with other people. We are all differently similar in our ways and our problems, and just because something may be going on in my life does not mean that someone else is not going through something just as bad. We need to be aware of other people’s situation and use them as opportunities to cultivate friendships and raise support. Life can be extremely difficult sometimes, but the most valuable thing about it is the fact that we do not have to go through it alone.