Reflection: Dorian Bible Camp friendships

There is a quote: “We have 3 types of friends in life. Friends for a reason; Friends for a season and Friends for a lifetime.” 

That saying is quite true for. I have had to live through a few traumatic family tragedies since I was 16 years old to 23 years old. Within 12 months both my mom and my sister Kathryn were diagnosed with cancer. My mom with stage 3 breast cancer and my sister with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and then my sister had a recurrence and then her sudden death when I was 23 years old. I wouldn’t have been able to get through those times without the friendships I made through my times spent at Dorian Bible Camp as a child.

Kathryn was 5 and I was 7; and Kathryn’s friend Kimberley Pidgeon told us she was going to Dorian Bible Camp (less than an hour east of Thunder Bay, Ontario) for a week. It sounded like fun so we asked if we could go and thus started a summer tradition of going to DBC every summer first as a camper than as a staff member. It were many of the people I have met through Camp became my source of strength to get through those family tragedies. They were there if I needed to vent; there if I needed a shoulder and a box of Kleenex to wipe my tears and they would keep me and my family in their thoughts and prayers. 

Now, 30 years later, I am facing a life changing illness, some of those friendships have again been a source of strength, encouragement and by keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. Two of those friends are Amanda James and Dana Horner Brooks. Amanda and I have become like a sister to me and became friends with all her siblings. Truly they are like my second family. Dana and I lost track of each other after graduating from high school. Then, thanks to Facebook we were able to reconnect.  Both Amanda and Dana live near the Calgary area and have been by my side since I was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome (GBS). Last April we started with Timmy’s Tea Time where we enjoy our Timmy’s tea as we enjoy our fellowship - reminiscing and catching up with each other and having some laughs too. Now we are having girls dinner dates with Skip the dishes delivering our food. It’s been great reconnecting with Dana again. 








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