The Waller Family and HIV

At our first Camp, after the opening ceremonies, amazing counselors came and informed us that they would take our kids and we would see them at the campfire in two hours. What?!? Two hours without kids? How is this loving act possible?! But that’s how it was all weekend. Non-stop. Counselors and staff constantly engaging our children with love and compassion. And it’s not just the kids that got this love and compassion. At parent-only meetings we could just sit back and listen, or interact and engage. All within our own time and space.

After the shock of newness wore off, I remember sitting at dinner and the kids looking around and taking in all of the families. One of my daughters looked at us and said quietly, “The other families look like us.” This melted our hearts. The town we are from has a very small African American population, and an even smaller mixed-race adoptive family population. REACH includes a wide range of families and we blend in perfectly. My kids love it.

Because of REACH, we are not alone. Our future is not yet written, and time will tell the true depth of impact REACH has made on us.