Last week, we did the annual drive up to Camp HASC to see Shmuel on Visiting Day. Despite the long trip, we always look forward to our visit since our experience has been that a person always feels better about the human race after being in HASC for even a short time.
When we got there, we visited the impressive therapy facility and met with his speech therapist. “I had Shmuel around 10 years ago” she said, “and I remember having to run after a child with Uncle Moishy videos just to get him to sit down for a short time. Now, he comes in, sits down, and does his work without a word of complaint. He is a true pleasure!”
We then went to Shmuel’s teacher in academics. Like a grandparent showing pictures of their grandchild, Efrem pointed out all of the pictures around the room of Shmuel doing the different activities. “Look over there,” he said, “and you can see the projects which Shmuel has done. We love having Shmuel in class. It’s a shame it’s going to be his last year in academics. However, he’ll be fine next year. Some boys need the structure and have difficulty once they finish academics. I don’t anticipate that being a problem for Shmuel. He’s doing great!”
Upon exiting academics, we stopped to talk to Shmuel’s former teacher from summers past. He asked for an “outside of camp” update about Shmuel and offered some suggestions about what could be done to help Shmuel once he finishes his school program this year. Although we have known his teacher for a long time (a man who spent many hours in the hospital and in our home after Shmuel was in an accident years ago), we were so touched that he still takes such interest in Shmuel and our family.
We then spoke to Mrs. Oestrich, who is in charge of the entire academics program. She said that she loves to see Shmuel since “many campers love Camp HASC. Shmuel is on a whole other level of his love for camp!”
Upon finally getting to talk to his counselors, we needed to wait a little bit as Shmuel was involved in “learning” his mishnayot with one of these devoted malachim (as we had requested at the beginning of the summer). When they were done, Shmuel sat very calmly as we said hello to him and schmoozed with his counselors about his progress. They had been in contact on WhatsApp with different pictures and videos so we were able to talk with knowledge. “He’s great,” they all said, “He really loves camp. The first Shabbos was hard since he couldn’t watch Uncle Moishy. But then we realized that he was happy if we just sang the Uncle Moishy songs. Since then, he has been doing really well.”
This “nachas-fest” continued at lunch as we got to speak to each counselor and hear about their experiences regarding Shmuel and the bunk as a whole. It was so nice to speak with these young men who took such an interest in our son.
What was even more amazing was the fact that various other staff members commented to us, “I’m not Shmuel’s counselor, but … ” and then we would invariably hear about them being in the same bunkhouse or seeing him at one of the activities. We got the sense that counselors receive nachas from campers with whom they interact even if they are not in the same bunk—it was really incredible to witness.
When Shmuel and I went to shul to daven Mincha, I was expecting the sitting to be difficult for Shmuel. In fact, as we were waiting for Mincha to begin, I lost track of Shmuel for a moment. I thought he had left the building. He had done what I least expected him to do. He sat down and remained quiet for the entire tefillah. I was amazed!
Outside of shul, we met Rabbi Willig, who we have known for years. However, every time he sees Shmuel, his face lights up and he says to Shmuel, “What’s my name?” And every time, with a smile on his face, Shmuel responds, in a garbled utterance but a response nonetheless, “Rabbi Willig.” And then Rabbi Willig inevitably says “Shmuel’s my friend.”
After spending visiting day this year in HASC specifically and the last 15 summers there in general, it is really clear that so many people in camp truly feel the same sentiment about our son. And, as a parent, we couldn’t ask for anything more.
Rabbi Yehuda Minchenberg is a fifth grade rebbe during the school year and teaches Torah at Camp Regesh during the summer. At home, he (together with his wife, Laurie), is the parent of six children, four of whom have varying special needs.
