CASPER — Eight-year-old Evelyn Waller can't sit still for long.
The bright-eyed girl with a bouncy brunette ponytail nervously shifts in her chair before a smile breaks across her face. She lights up talking about horses, butterflies and painting memories with other children during Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions' grief camp this summer.
Across the table sits her older brother.
At 11, her brother Aden is quieter, more reserved. He's quick with a dry, sarcastic remark, but behind his deep blue eyes is a thoughtfulness that seems well beyond his years.
Together, they look like any other Wyoming kids.
Evelyn loves soccer, dogs and horses. Aden enjoys video games, hanging out with friends and being outdoors.
Last October, everything changed.
Their father Jeremiah died suddenly.
Since then, both children have attended counseling every week. This summer, they added another step to their healing journey, spending four days at Ropes & Roses near Casper alongside other children learning to live with loss.
For their mother, Gina Waller, the camp was never about making grief disappear.
It was about helping her children discover they aren't the only kids carrying it.
Broken Pieces
The annual camp welcomes children ages 6 through 16 who have experienced the death of someone they love.
Over four days, campers ride horses, create art, share memories and participate in activities designed to help them understand grief in ways children can grasp.
One exercise has stayed with Gina.
Each child was handed a piece of glass and told to shatter it.
Then, one piece at a time, they carefully glued it back together before decorating it.
The message was simple.
Grief breaks people.
Healing doesn't erase those cracks.
"It was really awesome," Gina said. "It was good for the kids."
Another day, the children painted favorite memories onto horses before leading them in a parade for their families.
On the final afternoon, they released butterflies.
Evelyn still laughs when she remembers hers.
"Mine was staying on my hand," she said.
For Aden, the butterfly became something different.
A final message to Dad.
'He Saved Me'
When asked to share a favorite memory of her dad, Evelyn beamed.
She talked about a time the family had been floating together when her inner tube suddenly slipped loose.
She drifted farther and farther away.
"I started crying because I thought he wouldn't save me in time," she said.
Before panic set in, her father was already swimming toward her.
He caught her tube and quickly tied it back to the rest of the family.
"He saved me," Evelyn said.
Nearly a year later, she still thinks about that day.
Other stories followed just as easily.
Trips to the lake with the dogs. Slurpee runs. Watching Bugs Bunny together.
Dad making Nestlé Quik.
Peanut butter on nearly everything he ate.
Ordinary things he did that have become priceless memories today.
'We're Just Surviving'
The grief camp ended, but the sadness isn't gone.
Nearly a year after losing their father, Aden and Evelyn still attend counseling every week. The camp was another tool, not a cure.
"This summer, we're just surviving," Gina said.
She paused before trying to explain what grief has taught her.
"For people who don't know how to live one day at a time, this will get you there,” she said.
She said life now revolves around getting through each day.
There are school activities, doctor appointments, soccer practices, dinner, and laundry.
The list goes on.
They’re trying to keep childhood looking as normal as possible.
At the same time, every ordinary task reminds her of the partner who once shared them.
"You take for granted how much the other parent does," Gina said. "You don't notice until they're gone."
She sighed.
"This is so unfair."
Being widowed, she said, isn't only losing the person you love. It's losing the teammate who helped make family life work.
Now every appointment, every pickup, every decision rests on one parent.
Still, Gina refuses to let grief define her children.
"I hope they're mentally healthy," she said. "I hope they go to college. I hope this isn't a setback."
She wants them to remember their father.
She just doesn't want losing him to become the story of who they are.
Grief Camp
"Horses don't judge. They simply meet the children where they are," said Todd Wyrick, grief care coordinator for Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions.
"Sometimes a child will say more standing next to a horse than they will sitting across from an adult," but the animals are only part of the experience.
The real healing begins when children realize they're surrounded by others who understand exactly what they're feeling.
Some campers have lost parents. Others have lost siblings or close friends.
Many arrive shy, uncertain whether they even want to talk.
By the end of the week, conversations begin naturally.
Friendships form.
The children discover they don't have to explain why certain days are harder than others.
Everyone already knows.
For Gina, watching her children find that connection meant everything.
"Every activity has a purpose. It's not just arts and crafts — it's giving children a way to express something that's hard to put into words" said Wyrick. "Love doesn't end when someone dies. The relationship changes, but the love stays. That's what we're helping children understand."
Contact Kolby Fedore at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
