Laura Blackwell Shares Life-Changing Camp Jamie Experience
Two of Laura Blackwell’s strongest memories from Camp Jamie are a creative relay race involving donuts, and making a memory box to remind her of her father, who died when she was eight.
“I actually still have the memory box,” she says. “It was enormously comforting as a young kid who had just lost a parent – one of your biggest fears is that you’ll begin to forget details about them as you grow up.”
The memory box, as well as other core experiences at the youth grief camp, made such a strong impression on her that she has remained one of Camp Jamie’s strongest advocates. As an adult, she’s returned as a Camp Jamie Big Buddy for five years now, and it continues to provide healing and fulfillment as she helps children walk through the same struggles.
“Not many people realize what a difference it makes to be with other grieving peers who are outside your family, who didn’t necessarily know the person you lost,” she says. “In a family, you can support each other, but everyone grieves differently, and sometimes it makes connection more difficult. It’s a relief to be around others who simply understand what you’ve been through.”
Laura has fond memories of this sense of community, with arts and crafts, therapy dogs, and other healing activities. She says the camp has a great balance between joy and fun and opportunities to process. Most Big Buddies, she says, have also experienced significant loss, and are equipped to be sensitive to the needs of Little Buddy campers, some of whom are more shy and unsure than others.
As a professional hairstylist, Laura says, she uses a tool of the trade to help some of the girls relax: “When I’m fixing or braiding their hair, and not looking at them face-to-face, it’s often easier for them to open up.”
One of the main things she expresses to others about Camp Jamie is that people shouldn’t be afraid to tell their friends about it, even if it seems sensitive, because it’s an experience that can change a grieving child’s life. She also encourages adults who have moved through grief to become Big Buddies: “That was one of the most important parts for me,” she says. “To see that grown-ups went through the same thing that I did, and came out to have full lives on the other side.”
Laura also held a raffle fundraiser at her salon Blackwell Beauty where all proceeds benefitted Camp Jamie!
