Oh, no.
- What's the matter?
- Gas.
- What, we need gas?
- No, we don't need gas, I got gas.
Never should have
eaten that last burrito.
I don't think it was the last burrito
that got you,
I think it was the two before
the last one that did you in.
Cute, Jonathan, cute.
I knew you wouldn't understand.
I mean, what would you know about
lower back pain and gas?
- You got that too?
- Yeah, sure I got that.
- I got everything today.
- Are you sure you can drive?
I knew you wouldn't understand.
Try to explain physical pain
to an angel.
You know, you get thirty years of age,
everything starts to go.
Boy, to be a kid again.
Youth, it's wasted on the young
and they don't appreciate it.
- None of them.
- I don't know.
- None of them.
- Some of them do.
No, they don't. I'm telling you.
And they got it all too, you know.
They got health,
they got stamina, regularity.
They take it all for granted.
They don't know
what's waiting for them.
What's our next assignment,
anyhow?
Camp Good Times.
What--
What, do you mean a kid's camp?
- That's right.
- Oh, Jonathan, come on.
Give me a break, will you?
I just told you how I feel, now you
tell me I gotta go to some camp,
spend time with a bunch of noisy,
unappreciative, spoiled brats.
- How do you know they're spoiled?
- Because I know. They're all spoiled.
You think I went to camp
when I was a kid?
No sirree, bob,
I worked on my grandpa's farm.
I mean, I had it tough.
Not like these kids today.
They don't know what tough is.
- I think these kids do.
- Oh, really?
Yeah, really.
All these kids have cancer.
From the looks of these references,
you fellows should do just fine.
The way these recommendations read,
you two sound like angels.
Oh, that's half right.
In this pre-camp period, your jobs
are going to be centred around
reaching those kids
we really think could benefit
from the camp experience.
Talk to them, tell them about the camp,
see if you can't sign them up.
How did you get started in this?
Are you a social worker?
My son has cancer.
This is where they do
their radiation therapy.
It doesn't hurt or anything.
And the kids don't feel it
unless they have a brain tumour.
And then they get side effects:
Nausea, stuff like that.
Those pen marks
on the side of his face,
that shows where to localise
the radiation.
He's just a baby.
Yeah.
They're all babies.
Especially when they're yours.
These are the laminar-flow units.
They're for kids who have just had
bone marrow transplants
or leukaemia kids
who are at a high risk of infection.
Any kind of little infection
can be deadly for these kids,
so they keep them in here.
There's a constant flow of air
coming from the room,
so bacteria on the outside
can't go in.
But at least they can keep the door
open so they don't feel totally shut in.
How long do they
have to spend in here?
Three, four months for most.
It can be nine months to a year
for a few.
Their mother can't kiss them
or anything?
No. They can't even touch them,
except with gloves on.
There's a little boy down here
named Curtis.
He's gonna be getting out
in a couple of days.
I'd love to be able to
get him to camp.
His mother needs him to go to camp
as much as he does, maybe more.
What do you mean?
For the past year now,
she's been in the hospital with him.
She's in here hours a day.
Can't really blame her, can you?
I'd be the last person
to blame anyone.
When my son
first went back to school,
I used to go there three times a day
just to be sure he was still alive.
I used to take him
into the shower with me
because I was scared
to leave him for a few minutes
when he first got home
from the hospital.
I know what she's going through
and if you guys
could get him to camp,
that would be a minor miracle.
Okay.
Let's see what happens.
- Hi, Betty.
- Cindy.
I'd like you to meet
two new counsellors,
- Mark Gordon and Jonathan Smith.
- Hi.
This is the sweetest nurse on the floor,
Cindy Meyerson.
Cindy, would you take
Jonathan and Mark upstairs?
Show them the playroom,
answer any questions they might have.
Sure, I was just
going that way myself.
Good. Thanks. See you guys later.
On the clinic days, when the parents
bring the kids in for tests,
the kids go through their procedures
and then it can be three or four hours
before they get the results.
This is kind of a nice place where they
can wait and play with the kids.
Betty will tell you,
when you've got a kid with cancer,
even if they're in remission, you live
from one blood test to the next.
Cindy.
Yeah?
What's the kid doing
with the needle and the doll?
She's administering a spinal tap.
It's kind of play therapy.
Our kids don't play with dolls
in quite the same way as other kids.
I had a spinal tap once,
I still remember.
Yes. She has one every month.
These kids,
they know how serious
their sickness is?
Do you mean,
do they know about death?
Yeah, I guess that's what I mean.
Yes, I think they do.
I don't think
they're afraid of it, though.
Especially the little ones.
They're afraid of their illness.
The pain and everything.
But I don't think
they're afraid of death.
How can that be?
I held two kids in my arms
while they died.
You know what
their last words were?
"Take care of Mommy and Daddy.
Take care of my brother and sister."
I'll wait for you outside, all right?
Cindy, I'll be right back.
Hey, you okay?
Look,
I don't think I can handle this one,
you know.
I think maybe this is one assignment,
maybe I should just sit out.
Well, why?
Why?
Look around you.
Look at these kids.
I can't handle it, okay?
I'll meet you in the TV room.
- Last, but not least, the play yard.
- It's nice.
So that's the whole fifty-cent tour.
And I appreciate it. I think I see one
of my first customers right over there.
Oh, Jason.
You won't have to sell him on camp.
Look, I have a lot of office work to do.
I'm really glad to have you with us.
- Thank you.
- See you later.
- All right.
- Bye.
- How you doing?
- Hi.
- You're Jason, right?
- Yeah.
My name's Jonathan.
A nurse named Cindy
told me you really like camp.
You bet.
Look, my job's to go around and talk
to the kids about going to camp
and I've never been there.
I thought you might be able to help me.
You know, give me some ideas
about stuff you liked about it.
Well, there's stuff I like about camp
because it's not there.
And there's stuff I like about camp
because it is there.
Well, tell me some of the stuff you like
because it isn't there.
Nobody teases you.
When I'm at school,
sometimes kids--
Especially this kid named Timmy.
--he pulls off my cap.
You know, to see if I have any hair.
Well, lots of kids at camp
don't have any hair.
And no one really cares anyway,
because everybody
just wants to have fun.
What else do you like?
My best friend goes there.
He lives pretty far away,
so we only see each other at camp.
That's him and me.
His name's Jimmy Patterson.
He knows all kinds of neat stuff.
Looks like you guys
caught a couple of big ones.
Oh, I wouldn't have caught nothing
without Jimmy.
His dad goes fishing with him a lot,
so he knows about that stuff.
Jimmy, he plays these real gross tricks
on the girls, you know.
That's a lot of fun too.
I don't know, it's just lots of fun.
Is there anything you don't like?
The only thing
I didn't like about camp was
when it was over.
Camp's the way the whole rest
of the world should be all the time.
I mean, I hate it when people
feel sorry for me.
I just want to be ordinary, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah, Jason, I know.
Look, I just think this thing's
a waste of time, you know?
That's not what your
family doctor thinks.
Come on, it's a football injury.
I got tackled hard, I mean, big deal.
That happens all the time.
All we want to do is run some tests.
If there's nothing there,
there's nothing there.
Yeah, well, I don't have
what these kids have, you know.
Nobody said you did.
Then why do we
have to have the tests here?
It's not very pleasant
being around these children.
Can't we have these tests
someplace else?
Your family doctor said he wanted
a specialist to look at your son.
This is where those specialists are.
That's why the tests
have to be done here.
Now, this shouldn't take
more than a few days.
We have facilities for all of you
over at the guest house.
All we want to do
is make sure your son is all right.
And if there's a problem,
that he gets the proper treatment.
I'm telling you,
it's a real neat camp, Curtis.
I mean, they got horses,
they got fishing, boating,
they got everything.
Oh, I couldn't go there.
- Why not?
- All the germs and stuff.
That's why I'm in here,
so the germs won't get me.
But from what I hear,
the germs are no big deal anymore,
you're getting to go home soon.
Yeah, but my mom will keep the
germs away from me at home.
What if your doctor
and your mom and your dad
said it was all right
for you to go to camp?
Would you want to go then?
I can't do that stuff, I'm sick.
And I have to take my medications.
But the doctors there
give the kids their medications,
they take care of all that,
and they have a good time too.
Would they let my mom come?
Nope, no mom's allowed.
Just for kids. Kids like you.
You gotta be a kid and you have
to have cancer to get to go there.
Go where?
I'm Curtis' mother.
Oh, hi. I'm Jonathan Smith.
I was just telling your boy here
about Camp Good Times
and all the neat stuff
they have there.
Don't you think you should have
spoken to me first?
Well, actually,
I came down to talk to both of you.
Well, the answer is no.
Curtis can't go to any camp.
He's not even out
of the laminar-flow unit yet.
I understand he's about to go home.
Yes. Home, Mr. Smith.
Not up to some tent city
in the wilderness.
Mrs. Johnson, I'm not talking about
some tent city in the wilderness,
I'm talking about a place
where kids like Curtis can go
and just be kids for a week
and have fun.
Fun is not one our big priorities
right now, Mr. Smith.
We just want to get into remission.
Besides, he doesn't even want to go,
do you, Curtis?
I think it would be scary.
Is that enough of an answer for you,
Mr. Smith?
Mrs. Johnson, all kids are scared
about going to camp the first time,
that's got nothing to do with cancer.
Mr. Smith,
everything in our lives
has to do with cancer.
I just can't handle this one.
Why?
Why?
I can't take looking at those kids
knowing there's nothing I can do
except stand around
and feel sorry for them.
Oh, come on, they don't want you to
feel sorry for them, they want to live.
For a lot of those kids,
that's gonna be a long time,
long as anybody else.
And what about the others?
They want to live too,
for however long it is.
They want to live and laugh
and have fun like other kids.
If you'd listened to them,
instead of feeling sorry for yourself,
you would have heard them.
A little guy tells me
he wants to go to camp until he's big
and then be a counsellor,
so he can help other little kids.
Another one wants to grow up to be
a doctor so he can help fight cancer.
And you-
You've got a chance to get involved
with the greatest bunch of kids
in the world.
They're holding out their hands out
and you're running away.
- Because I can't do anything for them.
- You can be there for them.
Just be there for them.
Help them laugh, help them have fun.
Help them forget about
having cancer for a while.
And if you got the guts
you can be there for them
when they need to cry too.
I'll see you around.
Hey, Mister.
Could you get my plane
out of that tree, please?
Is something wrong, Mister?
No. Nothing's wrong.
It's okay to cry.
You got a kid in there, huh?
No, I haven't got a kid in there.
I feel sorry for the kids in there,
that's all.
Oh, that's all?
I thought you had a real problem.
You wouldn't understand, kid.
Oh, I wouldn't, huh?
What do you think I'm doing?
Entering a Telly Savalas
look-alike contest?
Now, could you fall apart
after you get my plane down?
Please?
Yeah.
Thanks, Mister.
And brighten up, okay?
Yeah, kid, I will.
- Jonathan?
- Yeah. Hi, how are you?
- Okay. I'm Jason's mom.
- Oh, hi, a pleasure.
You and he have hit it off pretty well.
Oh, yeah.
He and his buddy Jimmy Patterson
are gonna teach me how to spit
for accuracy and distance.
Jimmy Patterson is a total gross-out.
But Jason likes him--
Well, idolizes him is more like it.
Hey, with a talent like that,
what's not to idolize?
- I wonder if I could ask you a favour?
- Sure, you name it.
Jason has to have his spinal tap
this afternoon.
- Yeah.
- Last test before camp.
I have to go to work.
Usually he doesn't make a fuss,
but now he's saying he won't do it
without his dad being there.
Yeah, he was telling me
his dad's on tour.
Yeah.
That's how the great Miki Winner
deals with Jason's cancer.
Staying on the road.
I don't want to lay all this on you.
But, well, could you be with him
when he has the spinal?
I think just to have a man that he
looks up to with him would help.
Sure, I'd be happy to. What time?
- Around .
- I'll be there.
Thank you so much.
It's my pleasure, believe me.
You take care of yourself.
Okay.
All set, everything's loaded.
Homeward bound.
Really appreciate you giving us
a ride home like this, Jonathan.
Oh, it's no problem.
I can't understand it,
my car's usually so dependable.
Welcome home!
- Hey, Curtis.
- Dad.
- Welcome home, buddy.
- Dennis.
Curtis, we got
cake and ice cream for you.
- Oh, that's great.
- No kissing.
Dennis, don't kiss him.
Bob, would you keep Dennis
under control, please?
Why? Why shouldn't he kiss
his own brother?
Because he just came out
of living in a bubble for four months.
He doesn't need to be
overwhelmed with germs
the minute
he walks through the door.
Hey, my favourite kind of cake.
Look at all that chocolate.
Honey, I know you really want some,
but I just don't think
chocolate's gonna be the best thing
for your tummy right now.
Oh, come on, just a little.
I asked Doctor Cohn, he said--
Why do you make me
the policeman all the time?
Why are you always putting me
in the position where you're offering
all these neat things and I'm always
the one who has to say no?
I asked the doctor, Sherri.
Do you have a medical degree?
He does.
And is Doctor Cohn
going to be the one to sit up with him
and clean up after him
when he gets sick to his stomach?
He is still on chemotherapy.
Could I go to my room, please?
Oh, of course, honey.
You must be exhausted.
Oh, Jonathan. I'm sorry.
It's okay. I'll take the bags to the room
and get the rest of his things.
Thank you.
How's it feel to be home?
Okay, I guess.
Imagine after being cooped up
all that time,
you can finally get outside
and play a little bit.
Oh, I don't think my mom
would let me do that.
It's kind of stuffy in here,
I'll open a window for you.
Hey, Curtis, come here a minute.
- What?
- Come here and I'll show you.
Here, take a look.
You got a little family
living right outside your window.
Oh, look at them, Jonathan,
just look at them.
When I went into the hospital,
you know,
I didn't think I'd ever get to see
this kind of stuff again.
Hey, you're gonna get to see
a lot of neat stuff in your life.
Yeah. You know, I've never even
seen a baby bird in real life,
just on TV.
What's the window doing open?
Oh, Mom, there's some birds
out there, little baby ones.
Well, that's fine, but you don't need
the window open to see them.
I opened the window, Mrs. Johnson.
Well, now you can close it.
Please.
We just got you home
from the hospital, honey.
I just don't want to
take any chances.
Do you understand?
Yeah.
I know it's none of my business,
but I really don't think
a little fresh air will hurt him
after being cooped up for so long.
You're right, Mr. Smith.
It is none of your business.
I'll get the rest of his things.
You know, Mrs. Johnson,
he's not in the hospital anymore.
I know that.
Then why are you still
standing outside his room?
No autographs, we're running late.
That's right, stand back, stand back.
No autographs.
Mister Winner? Your son Jason's
having a test today at the hospital,
: , and he'd feel a lot better
if you could be there-
Let's go.
Miki.
Miki.
Miki.
- Camp! I get to go to camp!
- Hey, take it easy,
you're gonna have
nothing left for camp.
Oh, yes I will.
Sure you don't want us
to give you a ride home?
Heck no. I feel like walking.
- See you guys later.
- All right.
Hey, how's the big star's kid doing?
Just fine, Timmy.
Hey, Jason,
we're going to get haircuts.
You wanna come?
Hey, why don't you
just leave me alone?
I'm just trying to be friendly.
Don't you need a haircut?
Here, let's take a look.
Leave me alone, Timmy.
Give me my cap.
Jason's mad.
Hey, you.
- Give the kid back his hat.
- And what're you gonna do if I don't?
How about if I tear the lips off that
smart mouth of yours for openers?
Who wants this stupid cap anyway?
Let's go.
See what I mean about that guy?
See what I mean?
How can one kid be so mean
to another kid?
Somebody ought to
teach that kid a le--
Jonathan?
Jonathan.
I'll see you guys later.
My mom wants me
to get a haircut, you know.
But just take a little off the collar.
I mean,
don't touch the beauty, right?
Right.
You're gonna love it.
Gary, your parents have asked me
to explain the test results to you.
Just tell me if it's good or bad.
You have osteogenic sarcoma.
In English.
Bone cancer.
Oh, my God.
Gary, we've caught it in time.
Your chances for survival
are excellent.
I mean excellent.
And catching it as early as we have,
we just might be able to
save the limb too.
Save the limb?
You mean you might
have to cut off my leg?
I mean there's a decent chance
we won't have to.
We're gonna put you
on chemotherapy for eight weeks,
then we're gonna take
some more tests.
And if you've responded,
we'll be able to open the leg up,
take out the diseased bone
and put in prosthesis.
And then we'll just sew you up
and send you home.
And if I haven't responded?
Then we're going to save your life.
You mean
cut off my leg?
If that's the only option left to us,
yes.
Your life is what counts.
What's wrong?
I knew it. I knew it.
What, what, what did you know?
He just coughed.
Curtis. Curtis, honey.
Sherri, he's asleep, leave him alone.
Curtis. Curtis.
What's wrong, Mommy?
You were coughing, baby.
Are you feeling okay?
I don't know. I guess so.
All right, sweetheart, get dressed.
I'm gonna take you back to the hospital.
Sherri,
why the hell are you doing this?
He was asleep and he just coughed.
Look, let's wait till in the morning,
and if something's bothering him,
then we can call the doctor.
I'm not gonna wait till in the morning.
Mommy, I'm scared.
That's okay, baby.
Momma's gonna
take you to the doctor.
Sherri,
you're the one who scared him.
You don't have to go
if you don't want to,
but I'm not taking
any chances with my son.
All right.
All right, I'll go get the car.
It's : in the morning
and time for the Night-Owl Theater.
- How you doing?
- Hey.
Two o'clock in the morning,
I didn't realise I'd been at it that long.
My name's Jonathan Smith.
You're Gary Duncan, right?
- How'd you know my name?
- It's on my list.
I was supposed to talk to you tomorrow
before you went home.
Looks like tomorrow's already here.
- What are you, a guidance counsellor?
- No, no, no.
From Camp Good Times.
Forget it. I already heard the pitch
from the doctor, I'm not interested.
It's quite a place.
Hey, I got cancer, okay?
My hair's gonna fall out
from this stinking chemotherapy.
They might have to cut off my leg.
So I'm not what you wanna call
a real fun guy right now.
Why don't you just leave me alone?
Look, Gary,
I know what you're going through.
You do?
Do you have cancer?
I asked you a question.
Do you have cancer?
No, son, I don't.
Then you don't know how I feel.
I came in here
because I couldn't take hearing
my mom crying next to me all night.
I don't want to think about it.
I don't want to talk about it.
I just want to be left alone.
Okay.
Just remember there's a place
where you can go
and be with a bunch of kids that know
exactly what you're going through.
Because they're
going through it too.
He's fine, Mrs. Johnson.
Are you sure? He was coughing.
Maybe he had something in his throat.
I don't know.
I'll tell you what,
just to be a hundred percent positive,
we'll keep him in overnight
and watch him.
Thank you, doctor.
Are you gonna
put him in the laminar-flow unit?
Of course not.
I just thought...
Maybe he came out too soon?
I mean, we had the window open
and his brother was kissing him--
Sherri,
it would do him a world of good
to go outdoors.
To get some sun,
to build his strength back up.
- He's not gonna get that in bed.
- That's just what I told her.
Look, why don't you go home,
get some sleep, tomorrow--
No, I'm not going home.
I'm not gonna leave him like this.
All right.
Just go over to the guest house,
they have a room open.
And if there's the slightest change,
I'll call you, okay?
Okay.
We'll be close by, darling.
Macaroni?
I hate macaroni.
Well, it's the only thing
I had in the house that was bland.
I'll do some shopping today
and we'll get something else.
They said the blander the better
with chemotherapy.
Can I have something to drink,
please?
They said you should avoid
drinking with meals, Gary.
I don't know
what difference it makes,
they're gonna
cut my leg off anyway.
I'll get it.
Hello.
Oh, hi, Cathy.
No, I wasn't
avoiding you or anything.
I just was feeling kind of sick,
that's all.
No, I'm great now.
Yeah, from football.
A hamstring, you know.
No, I don't wanna
see anybody right now.
I'm not lying.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm still here.
Look, forget what I said.
I do want to see you.
So that's the deal, Jason.
This kid, Curtis,
he's pretty scared right now.
- Of what?
- Of everything.
He's the kind of kid
that needs to go to camp,
but he's scared of that too.
Everybody's scared the first time,
but then it's fun.
I was scared the first time,
until me and Jimmy Patterson
stuffed spaghetti
down a girl-counsellor's back.
We told her it was worms.
Right, now that's the kind of thing
he's gotta hear.
Not so much about the spaghetti,
you know, but that everybody's scared.
Right. So we thought if maybe we
would just have a little talk with him.
I could get him un-scared.
You got it.
Okay, I'll give it a try.
This is my best friend, Jimmy.
We go fishing all the time.
And look at this,
look at this bass we caught.
They're good to eat.
And look at this tackle box.
It's got all kinds of neat stuff
that you can go fishing with--
Well, what do you think?
Well, Jason's really in there pitching,
I'll say that for him.
That's my boy.
I've never even been fishing.
It's easy,
me and Jimmy will show you how.
The hard part
is getting the worm on the hook
without him pooping on you.
Jimmy showed me how to do that.
And we have weenie roasts
and horses
and canoes
and ghost stories.
It's just the neatest place
in the whole world.
Weren't you scared, though?
Sure I was.
I mean, camp was the first place
I ever slept away from home,
except the hospital.
- But you know what?
- What?
You don't feel bad up there.
What do you mean?
Well, I mean,
I don't know why I got sick.
I used to think I did something bad
and that's why God punished me.
And my mom would get all sad
all the time, you know.
Yeah. My mom's like that.
But my dad's pretty good, though.
How about yours?
My dad?
Well, he's a real famous musician
and he's on the road a lot too.
But he worries about me too.
So you know what else
I like about camp?
It helps me forget about being sick.
And it helps me forget
about my mom and dad for a while.
I mean, I don't have to worry
about them while I'm up there.
And I'm having fun,
so I know God isn't punishing me,
because I'm having fun.
It sure sounds great.
It is great.
I bet if you came up to camp,
we'd be in the same bunkhouse.
- You think so?
- Sure.
And Mark, he's gonna be
our bunk counsellor.
He's a funny guy.
I kind of wish I could go.
Then why don't you?
Because my mom,
she'll never let me go.
Hey, Curtis,
parents are a piece of cake,
all you gotta do is nag.
You can make them do anything.
Hey, Curtis, your mom's coming.
Jason, let's go.
Hey, Curtis,
remember what I said: nag.
- Hey, you want some of my fries?
- No, thanks.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
I haven't had much of an appetite
since I got hurt.
Yeah, well,
the team's doing lousy without you.
So I heard.
Yeah, when are you gonna
start playing again?
Oh, I don't know.
Hamstring, you know,
it takes a while.
Yeah, well,
I'm glad that you were just hurt.
I mean, I'm not glad you were hurt.
I just thought
you didn't want to see me anymore
and you were using it as an excuse.
I wanted to see you, Cathy.
I just...
You ever get the feeling
that you're just completely alone?
That nobody understands anything
of what you're going through?
Sure, all the time.
My mom says
that's how all teenagers feel.
You know, like it's no big deal.
Yeah, no big deal.
Come on, listen,
I know you're feeling down right now
because you're not able
to play football.
But just think,
summer's almost here,
we are finally old enough to drive.
Come on, this is so neat.
My dad is buying me a car.
This is gonna be
the neatest summer of our lives.
Come on.
This is our first night together
in a long time.
What's wrong?
Gary,
your hair.
Oh, my God.
Gary!
Gary!
You had no right sending
that little boy over to fill Curtis up
with all those ideas about camp.
How could you be so cruel?
Building him up for something
he can't even do?
Dr. Cohn thinks it'd be
the best thing in the world for him.
I'll decide what's the best thing
for my son.
Not Doctor Cohn
and certainly not you.
I am just trying to get him to a place
where he can come home for a while
and stay out of the hospital.
Is that really true, Mrs. Johnson?
How dare you
ask me something like that?
Because I think
you're more comfortable
when your son is in the hospital.
I think you're less afraid
and it's perfectly understandable.
Don't you patronize me
or tell me what's understandable.
You can't understand a thing
of what it's like
having a child you know might die.
He's a child that just might live.
He wants to live,
he wants to be a normal little kid.
Don't you think
I want that for him too?
Don't you think
I wish I could give him that?
Well, you can, but not this way.
Sherri, you're still living
in the damn bubble.
You're like an emotional
laminar-flow unit.
Look, I know it's scary to come out,
but if you don't, he's never gonna have
a chance to be a kid.
And what if I let him go?
Who's gonna be there if he gets sick?
There are doctors there. I mean,
if the slightest problem came up,
you'd be the first one they'd call.
I don't know.
Look, this isn't just a chance for him
to be a little kid,
it's a chance for you to be a woman
who doesn't have to worry
about her child's cancer for a week.
It's a chance for Curtis
not to worry about you for a week.
Oh, yeah, he worries about you.
He worries that he makes you
and your husband so sad
that you fight all the time.
Now, that's one hell of a load
for a kid to carry.
You're the one who told him to nag?
No, no, not me. That was Jason.
Advice from one kid to another.
Smart kid.
That's all he's been doing
all day long.
Camp this, camp that...
So he can stuff spaghetti
down some counsellor's bra
and tell ghost stories.
What does he usually talk about,
Sherri?
His treatments, chemo, spinal tap--
I see what you mean.
It's...
It's just so hard.
I know.
But you gotta stop being scared.
Hey, none of us know
what's gonna happen tomorrow.
What's important
is how we live today.
Okay.
I'll go tell Curtis he can go.
Okay.
I'm not sure I like the idea
of him stuffing spaghetti
down a counsellor's bra, though.
- Hi there.
- Hi.
Oh, you're Cindy, right?
The nurse from the laminar-flow units.
Not this week,
this week I'm Cindy the Counsellor.
Don't you ever take a vacation?
- Yeah, this is it.
- You're kidding.
You get one vacation a year
and you're gonna spend it at a camp?
And what's so strange about that?
I don't know.
I just would've thought the last place
you'd want to spend your vacation
is around kids with cancer.
Thought maybe you'd want
to get away from it for a while.
Look, Mark, the only time
I get to see these kids all year long
is when they're getting chemo
or spinal taps
or radiation or blood tests.
The only time I get to see them
is when they're sick
and I'm causing them
some kind of pain.
Now, up at camp,
I get to see them run and play
and laugh and have a good time.
I'm not even gonna be
the camp nurse this time.
Let somebody else
give them the blood tests.
I'm just one of the girls.
I'll see you on the bus.
You're sure you want to go?
- Yeah, I'm sure.
- We're gonna miss you, Gary.
Right.
Well, I better get on the bus.
- Bye, Mom.
- Take care.
- Bye, Dad.
- Bye.
How's this for service?
I'm gonna carry you right to your seat.
I told you I'd be well enough to come,
Mr. Smith.
- I never doubted it for a minute.
- Bye-bye.
- Have a great time.
- Listen, you write us a letter, okay?
Don't worry, I will.
Do you think maybe Dad
could come up for Parent's Day?
I don't know, kiddo. I'll work on him.
So don't count on it, huh?
No, don't count on it.
Hey, but I'll be there.
What am I, chopped liver?
- Hey, Jason.
- Jimmy.
Hey, Jason, look what I got here.
Live ones. Big, fat, juicy live ones.
What a guy. See you, Mom.
Boy, I sure wish
I was getting to go to camp.
You gotta have cancer
to get in on the fun.
How are you feeling, baby?
A little scared.
Well, first time at camp
you're supposed to, right?
Right.
You're getting to be quite a big boy,
you know.
Yeah, I guess so.
Hey, you just go and have
the best time a kid ever had, okay?
Okay, Dad.
- That goes for me too.
- Thank you, Mom.
All right, Curtis, all aboard.
Mommy...
Yeah, baby?
Thank you.
All right, you kids ready for camp?
Yeah!
All right, lets go!
Yeah!
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka rocka
Chicka rocka chicka rocka
I said a boom chicka rocka
Chicka rocka chicka boom
- Oh yeah
- Oh yeah
- One more time
- One more time
- Like a baby
- Like a baby
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka boom
I said a boom chicka rocka
Chicka rocka chicka boom
I said a boom chicka rocka
Chicka rocka chicka boom
- Oh yeah
- Oh yeah