An Evening For Jackson

“The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.” -Anonymous

I stumbled across the quote above many weeks ago. It truly explains many of my thoughts around the evening we spent at camp.

Back with old friends.

Seeing a dream come true.

Reliving sweet memories.

Many great things do come in threes. For example, I like to believe that Russ, Jackson and I make a pretty awesome family of three. Or how about this one....

  

In just three weeks, an incredible amount of money has been raised for Jackson's Scholarship Fund.

I wish I had more photos to really share everything about this evening from a visual perspective. Someone should really come over and just slap me across the face for not photographing this experience like I should have. Perhaps I was just living it and enjoying it :)

On with our evening.....

 We arrived at camp a little after 7:00 PM on Friday, July 13th. The weather all day had been touch and go, so we were unsure about where this event would take place until the last minute. I had talks with Jackson all day long about either 1) trying to show up with some sunshine for at least a few minutes or 2) just holding off the rain for a while. Turns out he was able to hold the rain, and we were thankful.

We all met at the chapel and walked down to the waterfront together. Many of us had not been back to camp in many years, and we were surprised at the new cabin upgrades (hello, air conditioning?), new cabins and the fact that the colosseum now has a roof on it!

The waterfront looked just the same. Just how I remembered it. Just how I like it.

I have always loved the waterfront. It feels like the heart of camp to me. Yes, there may be new cabins and other additions to camp....but the waterfront is where it started in my mind. It has stayed the same for years, and I hope it always does. The waterfront is a funny thing. It can be the craziest place with kids, life jackets, kayaks, paddles and clothing everywhere but it can also be a calm, quiet place. A great place to gather your thoughts. A great place to honor your angel son. For that reason, WE will always love the waterfront.

Ken O' Kelly, the Executive Director for YMCA Camp High Harbour kicked off the ceremony with a lovely message. He talked about how he remembered my days at camp and the years I spent as a counselor and program director. He talked about the impact of the scholarship, and the lives that it will touch. At the end of his talk, he presented us with the plaque that will go on the rock wall either outside the dining hall or the waterfront. It is perfect. A sweet way to remember Jackson, and when people see it they will ask what it means. It is a way to keep his "fire" and legacy going. When someone asks what the inscription means, that person can be directed to anyone at camp who knows our story and they can also learn about the scholarship fund. Every time I hear "Pass It On" from now on, I will think of him and camp. That is a beautiful thing. Here is the plaque:

 Next, Jennifer came up to speak for a few minutes about Jackson and the scholarship fund.  She and I have an interesting component to our relationship. We can make each other cry by looking at each other. She pulled out the big guns on her speech. She researched the meaning of Jackson's name.

As I mentioned in my last post, the sound of my son's name may bring tears to my eyes but it never fails to bring music to my ears and sings to my soul. Hearing his name at this most special place caused tears to flow. She said his name at the most perfect time. Here is what his name means:

Jackson means God is Gracious.

Neil means champion or passionate.

Sure, you could argue that the meaning of his name is hard for us to take or understand. Often times it does not feel like God is Gracious when we think about the loss of our sweet boy. It is easy to get mad and question why this happened to us and why God took him from us so soon. Nothing about this situation feels gracious or kind. He should be with us. All we can do is stay grounded in the fact that he was too beautiful for Earth and that God needed him. We must believe that this happened for a reason. Here is what we believe:

He needed a champion.

A champion of young children. A champion who has a huge heart that cares about deserving children. A champion who has won the hearts of so many. A champion who will give back to the world, forever.

Then, Jennifer shared the latest total.....hold on to your seats for this.......

In just 3 weeks, the little angel champion raised $9,797.24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that?!

I am fairly sure that earns you some kind of special angel status up there. A definite promotion. I am envisioning him with some kind of sheriff style gold badge that says "Head Of The Fundraising Committee" and maybe some extra flying privileges from the big guy. He may be 10 weeks old, but he can sure rock the house! His name also means passionate, you know. I think we have a passionate champion. Watch out, world! Angel on a mission. We love you Jackson Neil and we could not be any prouder!

That is the total revealed on Friday.

As of noon on today (Monday), we officially broke the $10,000 mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We really made it. An endowment fund in Jackson's name. A dream come true. A fund that will go on forever. Every single year many young children will go to camp because of so many people's donations. Russ and I would say that it is one of the single most powerful things we have ever seen or had the opportunity to be involved with. We are blown away and so very humbled by this outpouring of love.

 

Unbelievable. I guess it pays off to be a dreamer :)

I will update weekly as the fund continues its journey. Maybe someone can teach my how to put on of those fancy little fundraising widgets on this site. That would be nice. We can just watch this fund grow and grow! Together. It is only 3 weeks old! Who knows how much it will grow, but I can tell you that it will grow. I suppose that $10,000 dollars is now the "floor" for this fund :) There is a sassy, feisty little angel in charge, and he knows exactly what he is doing! If I am guessing what he is planning, I think that he wants to send truck loads of kids to camp! Go Jackson Go! We have always believed in him, and that will never, ever stop.

After Jennifer shared the fundraising total-to-date, Meredith came up to present us with the box of letters from the everyone who sent in donations. She did an outstanding job. We had a good cry and a good hug. 

Let me tell you something about Meredith. Did you know that it was actually her idea to start the scholarship? She came up with the concept and pitched it to Jennifer....and well the rest is history.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Meredith had the spark and she has lit hundreds of candles with it.

We are so grateful for you Meredith. It is an honor to know you, and we are proud to call you a friend. You are a beautiful person inside and out. Thank you for your passion, strength and love. You have helped glue our hearts back together again with just a little spark. We love you very much.

We spent a few extra minutes hanging out at the waterfront before we walked to closing ceremonies. It was so nice to give everyone an extra hug and a big thank you for coming to camp that evening. As we have learned at camp, you should always take the time to tell someone how much they mean to you and how much you appreciate them. 

Russ and I are thankful for all of you. We love you!

Then came closing ceremonies.

Oh, my. It was something. It is vibrant, fun, crazy and loud. Lots of cheering, clapping, singing, and dancing! We watched some of it, but a lot of the time was spent swapping funny stories and memories from our days at camp. That is always a good time! Here are the blurred photos I have of it.....

Taking it all in.....his eyes were huge at many points during the evening!

After all the camper and LIT awards were given out, it was time to quiet things down and close out the evening. It is one of my most favorite moments during the camp week.

We sing Give It Away, Light the Fire, Pass It On and High Harbour. I love all four of these songs.

Russ and I sat side-by-side on the back wall of the colosseum, held hands and sang these powerful songs. As soon as I saw the lyrics to Pass It On, I lost it. The emotion came up and out. All I could think about was Jackson and how much I loved and missed him. However, it was a completely different kind of emotion, one that I had not experienced before. It was not one of heartbreak and emptiness. It was actually the opposite. It was a feeling of being proud of him, loving him, and knowing that he is doing such incredible things from heaven. For the first time in nearly 10 weeks, I felt truly at peace. I was comforted and I felt like I could breathe again. Maybe because there was so much life around me. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by more love than I knew what to do with. Maybe it was my son lighting his mama's candle again.

Ken made an announcement that he was lighting a very special candle. After he lit it, he passed is flame along to many other campers and staff who were nearby. He then walked up the center isle and gave his candle to Russ. Then Jennifer came behind both of us and gave us another candle that matched the one given to Russ, and I lit my candle from his flame. Amazing. Tear fest 2k12.

They were not just any candles. See for yourself!

 

They are absolutely beautiful. A matching hand carved set with blue butterflies! We love them, and they are so special to us. Pass It On with a keepsake? Well, isn't that something!

We will cherish these candles for many, many years.

 After Pass It On, it was time to say good bye. 

Time to thank everyone and hug it out. It is always your least favorite part of the evening. You feel like you just said hello and now it is time for goodbye! Russ and I are so thankful for every single person that came to camp that evening, or donated their hard earned money to the scholarship fund, or had a part in planning it all. You mean the world to us. You are some of the most amazing people we know.

Favorite messages from our box of letters (they are incredible):

"It is my HOPE, that the children (yes, plural, we will send many!!) that receive this grant, share all of our love for that special place 'way up in the mountain tops' and are able to see the HOPE that it provides."

"Allowing other children to experience this little piece of heaven in his honor is such a fitting tribute, and we are so pleased to contribute to the fund."

"I think you perfectly captured the meaning of CHH and the special place it holds in our lives, which makes it that much more special that Jackson's Scholarship will help the next generation of campers create their own memories. I am in awe of God's grace just thinking about your son's impact on the world in such a short time."

"I know this will not take the pain of losing him away, but I hope that this fund will help you both smile knowing a child is having the time of his or her life because of Jackson's life. I pray many children will experience happiness and camp because of Jackson." (Amen, sister.)

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."-1 Corinthians 13:7

"I know my donation is not much but I also learned at camp that 'you can do a lot with a little'!" (love that)

"Think of every cent that is donated to Jackson's Fund as a smile--one that you would have given him or one that he would have given you. That's about 5,000 smiles as of right now!" (over 10,000 smiles now! Keep those smiles coming!)

"I considered writing this note on 'fancy paper', but given our long history at camp together, a note card seemed more fitting." (You know who you are, and I love this note card! Perfect. Love a good note card or just a scrap of paper.)

These are just a few of many wonderful notes. We will treasure these notes forever, and they will certainly help brighten our days when we need it most. Keep them coming, folks! 

 Every cent is a smile.

Every cent is a laugh.

Every cent is a friendship.

Every cent is a memory.

Every cent is a dream realized.

Every cent is a spark.

Every cent. Every single cent.

$10,000 and growing. You can still donate--click here! Every cent makes a difference! We can do this! Go ahead and try and say NO to JND :) He is too cute and sweet to turn down! Donate, you will feel great about it! Be the person that changes a child's life.

As we say at camp....

I'm glad I did.

Donate. You will be glad you did.

Pass It On.

Thank you for loving and supporting all three of us. We are getting better because of all of you, our newly promoted sweet angel, and every single cent.

With grateful and full hearts,

Emily and Russ