WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — The 10-year-old boy speaks intelligently about the shunts that were in his sister's brain. He explains that she didn't survive. But dealing with that is slowly getting easier, he says.

Nicole, 9, peeks at a butterfly in a box. An American Indian tradition says a secret whispered to a butterfly is received by a dead person's spirit. (Yuli Wu photo) | ZOOM |

        “I'm handling it pretty well,” says Jack, who lost his 5-year-old sister April 21. “I think the first couple of weeks after I heard she had died, I was sad.”

        Jack, of West Chester Township, is one of 47 children at Camp WeBelong who had the chance to share grief over the death of a loved one,. Camp WeBelong began Thursday and concluded Sunday at Joy Outdoor Education Center, on Old 3C Highway near Clarksville, in ru ral Warren County.

        The campers were already in grief counseling programs at two agencies: Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash; and Fernside: A Center for Grieving Children, in Norwood. Fifth Third Bank provided the nearly $30,000 to run the camp.

        During the weekend, the 7- to 11-year-olds shared their feelings with their peers.

        Bain, a 7-year-old from Morningview in rural Kenton County, lost his father suddenly three years ago. He talked about the times he tagged along with his dad to work and how he often met him at the driveway.

        “He put carpets in,” Bain said. “(When he came home) he used to let me sit on his lap and drive a little bit.”

        But not all children are able to articulate what has happened.

        “We help them identify feelings and help them find productive ways of dealing with those feelings,” said camp director Marilyn Robinson, who also works with Hospice of Cincinnati's Children's Bereavement Support Group. “They have no life experience to help with those.”

        Ms. Robinson said a 7-year-old considers a death “scary, spooky.” She said a 9-year-old realizes the person is not coming back.

        At Camp WeBelong, children did the usual summer camp stuff: swimming, arts and crafts, a trip to nearby Cowan Lake. But they talked about their grief and used crafts to help.

        Three crafts involved American Indian legends: Campers made masks to illustrate their emotions; they filled “medicine bags” with herbs and other material to ward off negative energy; and Sunday there was a butterfly release, which stems from a legend that maintains that a secret whispered to a butterfly is ultimately received by the dead person's spirit.

        Jack seems well on the way to recovering from his sister's death. He played “Ode to Joy” and “Amazing Grace” on the cello at the funeral.

        “I'll always be sad,” Jack says. “Time is the best healer. She was a very smart girl and very funny.”

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