August 12, 2010
“When I wish to make a wish
I wave my hand with a big swish swish.
Then I say, I wish for fish!
And I get fish right on my dish."
--Dr. Seuss, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"
Kids with cancer at Camp Quality Greater Kansas City put their heart and soul into wishing for fish every morning from 9 to noon during their stay at camp.
Camp Quality, located at Lake Doniphan near Excelsior Springs, just concluded its week-long residential summer camp, held annually in August.
It might be safe to say that no one was sadder to see camp end than Bob the Turtle.
That is because for the past 18 years, as near as anyone can remember, Bob the Turtle has developed a special bond with the kids at camp, year after year. It might also have something to do with the Perch the kids feed him.
Still, according to Joyce Branson, camp fishing director and companion coordinator, Bob is the only turtle in the pond that climbs up on a rock, stares at the kids and appears to communicate with them. He does this year after year.
The reason Joyce knows that the stories about Bob the Turtle are true is because she has been there nearly as long as Bob; he, 18 years, Joyce, 17.
The other turtles clamor to fight for the fish the kids catch, Joyce jokes, but Bob, on the other hand, prefers to sit on a rock, look the kids in the eye, smile and patiently wait on them to catch another fish for him. Bob is not in a hurry.
Did Joyce just say that turtles can smile? Well, these excited kids agree and say Bob can.
Joyce adds that she worries that the kids might get too close to a snapping turtle such as Bob, but is quick to add that Bob is placid, relaxed and so full of fish he is not interested in snapping at anybody.
He sits on his rock waiting to be fed.
Joyce has many more of these heart-warming stories that depict brave and strong kids with cancer who are learning to fish. So many "fish" stories, in fact, that she is putting them into a book about how the camp uses "fishing therapy" to heal hearts and souls and sometimes bodies of these young campers.
Branson's book, "The Ones That Got Away" will be a collection of heart-warming tales of camp fishing stories as well as stories about the children she has lost to cancer over the years. It will be published later this year.
Joyce says the kids' doctors report that when the kids come home from camp, they are better able to tackle the next round of treatments thanks to fishing therapy and their friend, Bob the Turtle. They are thinking about Bob, not their illness.
Fishing gets a child's mind off his or her cancer, at least for a week, Joyce explains.
That is why every morning at camp she announces excitedly to these young hopeful fishermen, "Hey, kids, let's GO FISH!"
Come to think of it, not a bad philosophy for other things that ail us as well.
"When I wish to make a wish
...Then I say, I wish for fish!"
--Dr. Seuss, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"
(Note: For more information about the annual August Camp Quality experience, visit www.campqualityKC.org . Joyce Branson says she is always looking for more volunteers to help bait a hook, to tie sinkers and floats on a line and to teach kids how to fish.)
