Final Outpost Hurrah!

Well the day has come and gone...my last day as the Hospital Outreach Coordinator has passed as fast as lightening and after thiis weekend I am on my way back to Oregon with my mom, sister and cousin. My last Outpost visit was on Monday the 13th and was held at Shriners Hospital for Children. During those 2.5 hours my volunteers and I were able to serve 20+ kids as well as their family members through crafts, bean bag toss, fishing and one heck of a BINGO game. We all had a very fun time, and it was exciting to see the looks on the kids faces when they heard what we were there for. Although gathering volunteers can be a bit tricky for Hospital Outreach I was very fortunate to have 4 lovely ladies assisting me. The first was the awesome Hospital Outreach Manager Jessica who pretty much just rocks at whatever she does, then I had the marvelous Misha who is just a natural with kids and was actually my superstar helper last summer (she literally signed up to volunteer at EVERY Outpost visit), next I had the wonderful Evelyn who actually works with our development team, but is a very loved Outpost volunteer due to the fact that she is wonderful with kids and teens, and bonus; she speaks Spanish! Last but not least I had my totally bitchin volunteer Ann who also works for The Painted Turtle in the Santa Monica office with program and development. So as you can see I was stacked with the perfect group of volunteers for my final outpost hurrah!
The day was very bittersweet, and although I felt bummed that it was my last visit as the Hospital Outreach Coordinator, I also had a sense of relief when it was over just because I am looking forward to spending my first summer home since 2004 and I am also hoping that by cutting down on work and getting the rest/care I need I will be back to my old healthier self in no time. I am very much looking forward to sleeping in until my body naturally wakes up, starting up some exercise that doesn’t hurt my joints too much, helping my mom and dad with little things around the house, and spending some well overdue time with my friends and especially family. So needless to say it will be a busy summer, but a fun one if you ask me.
Below are some things that I am going to miss about Outpost as well as some crazy memories that I have gathered over these years:
• Holding and snuggling babies…you try and resist holding a little peanut that is laying or sitting alone in a crib.
• Seeing the look on the kids’ faces while I am talking to them about camp or the activities we have to do today.
• Being able to chat with kids/teens that were recently diagnosed with Crohn’s or Lupus and just being able to be a resource for them during this very confusing and overwhelming time.
• Seeing a teenager start out very uninterested and standoffish in the playroom with our activities, then seeing them after about 15 minutes completely engaged and enjoying what we have to offer with a big smile on their face.
lives on a more regular basis through camp, bedside visits, and camp in a box—I was able to make some great friendships.
• Having separate requests from kids and families to visit them in their room while they are in isolation. Once we arrive they would often request that we sing songs at their bedside and they would immediately light up right when we would start singing their favorite camp song.

Now I realize that I have a lot more glorious memories from Outpost and and camp in general from the past 6+ years, but I just don't have the time to write them all. I would need to dedicate a full week just for the first summer. Ah well such is life.