Camp Cope

 Sometimes many people forget that our military child is also serving our country.  They are the ones who have their mom or dad leave for a long period of time.  They are the ones who have to deal with missed birthdays and holidays.  They are the ones who are told "because we are fighting for freedom."  They are the ones who do not understand why their mommy and daddy have to leave.  All they know is this is part of their mommy and daddy's job.  Sometimes with that becomes anger, sadness, and a sense of abandonment.  A deployment can be hard on any adult but as an adult we can sometimes deal with those feelings and "drive on."  As a child this is difficult.

On Saturday my children had the blessing of attending a wonderful organization that help military children deal with deployments; it is called Camp Cope.  This was an all day event and the children had so much fun and learned so many wonderful things.  The children learn how to deal with anger and some coping skills.  They received a t-shirt, a certificate, a goody bag, lunch, snacks, wonderful teachers, and a day to be others who are going through the same things.  My children have not stopped talking about this wonderful organization and are asking to go next year.  I cannot say enough about the wonderful volunteers that took their time to help my children.  They flew from Texas to Alaska to help my children and other children who are dealing with deployment.  I am truly grateful.

Here is a statement from the Camp Cope website explaining a little bit about its purpose:

"As the U.S. reaches its 8th year at war, it becomes increasingly clear that Kids Serve Too!  The children of deployed, injured and fallen heroes just may be the strongest and most forgotten heroes today.  For some kids the adjustment to a deployed or injured parent can be difficult to understand and cope with.  At Camp C.O.P.E. kids learn ways to deal with and cope with this difficult time in their life. Camp C.O.P.E. travels across the nation to different military installations, providing the camps at no cost to the families."