{"id":1409,"date":"2018-08-17T11:11:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T15:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/?p=1409"},"modified":"2018-08-17T11:26:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T15:26:08","slug":"im-definitely-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/?p=1409","title":{"rendered":"I’m definitely going!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maya was truly blessed to have several families.\u00a0 Aside from our family, she had strong connections in different circles.\u00a0 One of the most impressive and supportive ones was that of the Rowe Camp.\u00a0 At this moment, many of Maya\u2019s peers are at camp, at \u201cSenior High Camp,\u201d for three weeks.\u00a0 Yes, even though they are 18 years old, they are still campers.\u00a0 It is that kind of environment.\u00a0 Maya grew up with her friends there.\u00a0 Since her passing, she inspired a few friends and acquaintances to go.<\/p>\n

When people would ask me \u201cwhat was Rowe\u2019s specialty?\u201d I would respond that it was a magical and safe place to explore who you are. \u00a0Deep conversations, stretching the imagination, spiritual reflecting, lasting, honest, true friendships and love all would happen at Rowe.\u00a0 And yes, much fun, too.<\/p>\n

Though I didn\u2019t make a journal entry about the seeds of how Maya\u2019s Rowe experience started, I remember it as if it were yesterday.\u00a0 I am actually sitting in the corner of my study, at the very computer where it all happened.\u00a0 It was the winter of 2008.\u00a0 Maya was eight years old.\u00a0 I was on the website of Rowe Camp and Conference Center, looking at the options for camp for Adin, her brother who is four years older. \u00a0Here is how the conversation went when she came into the room:<\/p>\n

Maya:\u00a0\u00a0 What chya doing?<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am checking out a sleep away camp for Adin.<\/p>\n

Maya:\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m going.<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maya, you\u2019re too young to go.\u00a0 You won\u2019t even be nine next summer.\u00a0 Eight year olds cannot go to sleepaway camp.<\/p>\n

Maya:\u00a0\u00a0 Check it out, mom.<\/p>\n

Lo and behold, I clicked and there was an option, called, \u201cYoung People Camp,\u201d fondly known as \u201cYPC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maya:\u00a0\u00a0 Mom, I\u2019m going.<\/p>\n

Then I scrolled down on the page.\u00a0 Photos of the camp experience were shown.\u00a0 Then, the moment of truth.\u00a0 There was a close-up of a young camper whose entire body was painted blue.\u00a0 That was it.<\/p>\n

Maya: \u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019M DEFINITELY GOING!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was no stopping her.\u00a0 For one, whatever Adin could do, Maya could do.\u00a0 She did not let age get in her way.\u00a0 She also had such confidence and motivation.\u00a0 Again, if she had her mind set on something, she would make it happen.\u00a0 This was a blessing and in some areas, a curse.\u00a0 The blessing of course was that she lived life fully.<\/p>\n

I am touched to know that Maya spent many years at Rowe.\u00a0 The friendships were true and deep.\u00a0 I highly value the connection that I continue to have with the Rowe Community.\u00a0 I am glad that I supported Maya in her knowing as it opened many doors for her.<\/p>\n

Photos were from the summer of 2009<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maya was truly blessed to have several families.\u00a0 Aside from our family, she had strong connections in different circles.\u00a0 One of the most impressive and supportive ones was that of the Rowe Camp.\u00a0 At this moment, many of Maya\u2019s peers are at camp, at \u201cSenior High Camp,\u201d for three weeks.\u00a0 Yes, even though they are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spunk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p720L0-mJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1409"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1416,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions\/1416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}