Day Seven – Simply Smiles, Today is our Final Day Here (at least for now)

"Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth."

~ Bradley Whitford ~

The May 26 to June 2 group at CRST with Simply Smiles

Day Seven – Simply Smiles, Today is our Final Day Here (at least for now)

Today has been completely insane! We were greeting and cheering for the kids as they got off the bus for summer camp this morning. And then…the (W) brothers arrived. The first one gave us all the finger, the second told us to “shut the f**k up”, and the next (who was the kid I played UNO with yesterday) just looked away. There are four of them all together I think but, after that, I stopped paying attention. The day was headed downhill.   

The kids were really wound for sound all day. There was some definite disrupted and distracted energy going on. One of the bright spots was that I was watching a flag football game and when some of the staff members got pulled away, I got pulled into the game. Towards the end, the yellow team was just me and two boys. We tried a couple of trick plays and they were getting into it. It was fun.

Then, I found out why the staff was pulled away from the game. There had been a problem with some of the older kids up at the school. They jumped into action and brought the kids back to the community center and canceled the rest of the activities for the camp day. The vans and busses began bringing kids home. They handled the craziness quickly and professionally. Again, I don’t know how they do this day in and day out.

Storms move in fast

I spent the rest of the afternoon helping Marcella with the garden and greenhouse, the cover was blown off last week during a storm. There was another storm moving into the area and she was concerned that hail would damage the plants and vegetables and she was trying to cover all the raised beds. She told me that two years ago she quit her job and went to Standing Rock as a Water Protector and upon returning, she went to work for Simply Smiles. I told her that my first protest ever was at the Missouri River to support Standing Rock. This woman is a hard worker. I worked my ass off just to keep up with her, they are lucky to have her. I think everything will be safe.

Just before the final community dinner of the week, we went to the school for ice-cold showers. I really needed a shower even though I forgot my soap and shampoo this time. I am going to challenge the shower and water heater at the hotel tomorrow. I plan to check in, take a long shower and find a burger and cold beer. Brian told me to check out the Firehouse Brewery in Rapid City.

We had our wrap-up meeting and Final Reflections. Some of the kids really opened up about things. The second part was called Tap Affirmations. We split into three groups and the groups sitting down had to cover their faces. The other group went around and tapped people on the shoulder in response to questions asked by the group leaders. It was a nice experience.   

One of the students shared that she struggles with anxiety and depression and her story sounded all too familiar to mine. During my turn, I told the group about the Gratitude Stone that I carry. Afterward, I gave her one that I had picked up earlier today and told her to hold it whenever she was struggling to think of something good.

There were lots of hugs and goodbyes all the way around. People took pictures and some exchanges of contact information. I would like to stay in touch with some of these people. It is amazing how you can feel so close to people with whom you have just recently met.

Tomorrow I will take my phone off of airplane mode and let the world know that I am still alive. I am not sure how I feel about leaving now. I am ready in one sense but I think I am going to miss these people and this place. People ask if you will come back. That is like asking a person at the finish line of their first marathon if they will do another. It cannot be answered at the finish line. 

Stay tuned for traveling home and decompression thoughts about returning to "civilization".