Family Retreat “Was like a Beautiful Dream…”
Charles and Beth came to Family Retreat with their two sons: Ethan, and Philip, who has autism. The experience changed their lives.
Here’s what Charles has to say about Joni and Friends Family Retreat…
“Family Retreat was an experience I can only describe as ‘out of this world.’ From the moment of our arrival, we were treated like VIPs. The love and care exhibited by the staff and volunteers was literally written on their faces. We could see that this was coming straight from the heart of every one of them. It came out naturally from morning to evening every day to the moment we started our journey home five days later. I am not ashamed to confess that we felt sad it was over… It was like a beautiful dream that you don’t want to end.
Let me share with you the experience of a family living with disability. Disability in the family gradually isolates the entire family from those they have known as friends. This isolation is partly self-imposed, but there are cases where ‘rejection’ is open or communicated in subtle ways. Whatever the case, you realize that social interactions such as dinner invitations will be one-sided at best.
Our son, Philip, has autism and is now 21. We are comfortable having people over for a meal or a cup of tea, but we don’t go to people’s homes. We don’t blame anyone for not inviting us. Even when invited, our family situation dictates that we turn down the invitation. We realize that the fun of visiting with our hosts would be curtailed by the reality that most of our attention will be on our son. Our son is social and friendly, but not in the way the world understands being social.
We should also mention that we are immigrants in this country. This fact has a significant impact on our life in that we do not have family to count on for support.
Bringing up children in our mother country is made easier by the social support coming from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and close neighbors. Out here, we are a small family struggling to cope with disability…
This has been our story for 21 years. But everything changed at Family Retreat. For the first time in so many years, my wife and I were able to relax for the greater part of the day without worrying about Philip—we had total confidence in the buddies that cared for him.
Though he is not verbal, we could see how excited he was. Philip made friends, and Ethan had a great time, too! Meeting and interacting with other families who are also living with disability was a source of inspiration and encouragement.
The idea of Family Retreat was a stroke of genius! Our experience will live in our hearts for a long time!”
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