Broken, A Poem by Cameron

Cameron recently studied the indigenous people of the pacific northwest and learned of a native tribe who had to flee their land in Oregon. He wrote the following poem and I was blown away by the emotions he captured in this poem. 

Broken

As I drove away.

I heard the falls go silent. 

I felt red hot boiling anger rushing through by veins, 

but its smashing into woe and sorrow. 

My fishing net is broken, 

along with my heart. 

My job is gone, 

how will I move on?

The salmon have disappeared, 

my favorite food is no longer there. 

My fishing net is broken, 

along with my heart. 

My life has been transformed. 

My life has been left behind. 

My friends, 

my family, 

will I see them again?

The falls are silent, 

the salmon gone. 

Lives have been shattered, 

but we must move on. 

Where I'm From

 This girl, at 13 I'm so incredibly proud and impressed

Where I'm From

I am from my mom’s silver Mazda 3,

 and from my dad’s white “Man-Van.”

I am from jumping on our old brown couch

And sitting on the tiny orange “sofa” 

every time I went to Trader Joe’s.

I am from flying to the Midwest every summer,

 spending so much time at Half Moon and Balsam Lake.

I am from driving to the Oregon Coast every spring break,

always stopping at La Tarasca in Centralia.

I am from mismatched outfits that I picked myself 

and going out into our cul-de-sac with my brother or friends.

I am from rearranging the living room furniture

so it was possible to play the games we had made up. 

I am from a book that my mom loved,

From a character named Adelaide.

I am from Lynn, my mom’s middle name,

 Ruby, my great grandma’s name, 

And Evert, my dad’s last name.

I am from my dad’s family, 

thoughtful, kind, taller than everyone.

I am from my mom’s family, 

always doing or saying something, no silence.

Ski Week!

We continued our winter tradition of renting a cabin near the ski resort that we love. We stayed for 5 days this time and really got to experience a winter wonderland. We got about 8 inches of snow while we were there and had a great time exploring the trails, hitting the slopes and relaxing at the cabin. The drive home was a bit dicey because of the big ice storm that hit, but we made it safely and had a great time. 

Birthdays 3 and 4

Cameron celebrated his birthday by going to a video arcade with a couple of his friends. They had a great time playing games both at the arcade and at home. Cameron was very excited about his oreo blizzard cake. On his actual birthday, he got a dinner out with just Brian and I which of course involved another dessert! We definitely celebrated in style turning to double digits and he had an awesome 10th birthday. 

Birthday #2

Cameron's 2nd birthday celebration involved an overnight hotel night with Scott & Wendy. They took Cameron to a hotel for swimming, a movie and his favorite meal ever, hotel breakfast! Cameron was spoiled yet again with great presents and we got another pre-Christmas celebration in. We took them to see  the Zoo Lanterns, even in the rain they were beautiful. They also got to see a choir concert from Cameron and an orchestra concert from Adelyn. It was a really fun trip, including teaching them how to play e-sports games and it was great to have visitors after such a long break with Covid. 

Birthday #1

Cameron got to celebrate his 10th birthday multiple times this year since we had both sets of grandparents visit the weeks leading up to his birthday. First were Papa and Kathy and Cameron enjoyed opening his new nerf gun. We had a ton of fun with them and went on a "Christmas Ship" cruise on Lake Washington. It was a fun way to welcome in the holiday season. We had our traditional crab dinner, Addy put on a very memorable concert and we taught them how to bowl and play tennis on the Nintendo. 

Safari Park

On Black Friday instead of braving the retail stores, we braved the Safari park and saw elephants, rhinos, giraffes and gorillas. It was an awesome place to see tons of animals and we saw the only 2 platypus outside of Australia. It was really cool to walk with the wallabies and to take the tram through the safari park.