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Katie Johnson's spirit lives on at Jabberwocky By Kim Ho, Katie’s counselor and friend Katie was just a little girl when she first came to us at camp, both physically and emotionally. She was twelve-years old and lived in an institution in Maryland. People at the institution treated her like a small child since she was adorable and tiny for her age. She wasn’t even toilet trained, and did not have a consistent sign for indicating "yes" and "no". At the institution, she carried the label of severe cerebral palsy and mental retardation. I remember her first summer at camp, she would cry when something scared her or if she had to make the difficult choice between equally tempting activities. She moved into the cabin of "upstarts," young women who were in college and moving towards independent lives despite their disabilities. Soon Katie was caught up in the talk of cute men, make up, and music. I recall once situation when Katie’s maturity really stood out during her second summer at camp. She was asked to the formal dinner at camp by Will, a hunk of a counselor. I put her best dress on, and her cabin mates Krissy, Faith, Nancy, and Heather helped her put on some make up. When I wheeled her up to the mirror, Katie cried. I asked her, "are you upset because you look like a little girl?" She glanced to the left to indicate an emphatic "yes." Katie wanted to look and be treated like a teenager. In Katie’s two short summers at camp, she touched the lives of all the campers and counselors. She opened the adult session up to the idea of accepting children to mentor. Katie died just a few days after her second summer at camp. A Katie Johnson fellowship has been established in her name that carries the spirit of Katie.  During the camp production of Grease, her favorite plays. Katie was the
perfect example of what camp can do. A little girl from a state institution matured to a
young woman who danced, sang, laughed and cried with people that she loved her. Katie
still visits me in my dreams.
I hope we can spread the power of camp to other areas of the world .Jabberwocky's
history Katie
Johnson 's Foundation |