Between looking for work and wondering where I might go to work and trying to figure out what was going to happen next I spent an awful lot of time focused on myself. It was depressing.
In the midst of all this self-pity I heard about a call for volunteers of all kinds to help build a new playground in the big city park not far from where we lived. It was to be an accessible portion of the park for children of all abilities.
My handyman in-ability was much the same twenty one years ago as it is today, maybe even worse. But I was encouraged to get out of the house and I thought I would try to lend a hand.
"Just take this tool, grab some screws from that box, and put the screws into the wood where marked," said the leader of the playground structure to which I was assigned. Like Habitat for Humanity builds I would sometimes help with much later, the crews knew how to use the volunteers to get things done.
I was able to help several times over three weeks before receiving a job and heading out to begin another phase of my career. But those days on the playground brought as much joy to me in constructing as I hope it delivered when complete.
Looking at it up close recently in it's Palmer Park home, I could see familiar shapes of swing sets and accessible castles. Given the passage of time and the well-maintained appearance of the park, I'm sure whatever marks I left on the project were cleaned up, polished, and made safe.
Camden is the name of the boy who inspired efforts to create this place at a time when it was one of the first of its kind. And the name lives on as Community Accessible Medium Dealing with Exceptional Needs.
The community raised $120,000 to give Camden and his friends a place to play, and I'm glad to have been one of 2,500 volunteers who helped build it.
That it stands today, ready to play for another two generations of Janesville's children, makes all those efforts worth it.
Play on Camden, play on!
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