When ‘Normal’ Returns: Why the Hard Things Still Need Our Attention

We’re adjusting to a new normal now. The immediate crisis has eased. Life is returning to something that resembles routine. But “normal” doesn’t mean the hard things have gone away.

The children and teens we support at Jeremy’s Circle are still living with cancer in their families. Parents are still in treatment. Some families are still grieving losses that happened before, during, or after the war. And every single person in this country is processing what we’ve been through, trying to find our footing again.

Which makes me think about last summer—about five days and four nights that changed everything for 100 children. Camp Jeremy, our first-ever overnight camp, where kids dealing with cancer or loss in their families found connections that can’t be created in a single-day event, no matter how magical.

I’m thinking of two girls who met on the first day, both having lost a parent to cancer. By day two, they were inseparable.

These friendships don’t happen by accident. They happen when kids spend their days together—swimming in the pool, staying up too late talking in their rooms, shooting baskets, and creating ridiculous inside jokes. They happen when children realize they’re not the only ones whose family looks different, whose house feels quieter than it used to.

The Power of Real Peers

We founded Jeremy’s Circle nearly eighteen years ago, after my husband, Jeremy, died, leaving me with three young children. I saw then what my own kids needed—real peers in their experience, to give them permission to be children again, to show them they weren’t alone. We have been holding family fun days and teen events for nearly 18 years now. But until we created Camp Jeremy, I didn’t fully understand the transformative power of extended time together.

One day of fun is wonderful. Five days of friendship are life-changing.

At our events throughout the year, kids have a blast. They climb, they play, they laugh. Their parents share notes with each other. But at camp? Something deeper happens. The kids form a support network that lasts far beyond those five days. They look forward to seeing each other at Jeremy’s Circle happenings. They text each other and meet in smaller groups between events. They know they have friends who truly get it.

One of the older participants coping with her dad’s cancer told me that she doesn’t like talking about it with her usual friends, because when she tried, they responded awkwardly or not at all. Talking to her peers from Camp Jeremy is a kind of relief.

Helping is Healing

Here’s what I’ve learned over the years: When the world goes crazy—when our lives turn into nightmares, when missile alerts wake us at 2 AM, when the news is relentless, when we feel helpless—giving moments of joy to struggling children doesn’t just help them. It helps us.

When I watch these kids laugh and play and simply be kids despite the tension in their lives and in our country, something shifts inside me. My anxiety, helplessness, and sorrow transform. Their resilience reminds me of my own. Their ability to find joy despite profound challenges shows me that light can exist even in the darkest times.

Right now, planning for this summer’s Camp Jeremy feels like an act of defiance against darkness. It’s saying: You cannot steal childhood from these kids. You cannot take away their right to friendship, joy, and normalcy. We will create five days where cancer and loss take a back seat to zip lines and campfires and the kind of friendships that last a lifetime.

We’re currently fundraising to send 100 children to Camp Jeremy this summer—five days and four nights where they can just be kids, make real friends, and know they’re not alone. If you’d like to help make this possible, you can learn more and donate here >> https://causematch.com/jeremyscircle26_en/.

Here’s the beautiful bonus: In creating joy for struggling families, we remember that we can still give light even when we ourselves may be navigating darkness. In saying yes to camp, we say yes to hope.

Jeremy’s Circle provides a supportive community for over 1,200 families where the children and teens in Israel are growing up in the shadow of cancer or cancer loss. Learn more at jeremyscircle.org