Week away helps Pricilla view loss in a new way

Sometimes 8-year-old Pricilla Rodriguez feels she has it rough with her protective father. She has an 8 p.m. bedtime and is not allowed to use nail polish or lipstick.

But other times, Pricilla takes on the role of parent by waking her dad in the morning to make sure he’s on time for work and reminding him to take his pills and return phone calls.

Pricilla has lived with her father, Rudy Rodriguez, since she was 8 months old. She speaks with her mother on the phone and sees her every couple of months but will call her grandmother if she needs to talk about “girl stuff.”

“It hurts her emotionally; she wants her mom in her life all the time,” Rodriguez said. “Who wouldn’t?”

Pricilla, her brother, Jacob, 14, and their father live in a house in West Covina, with the drone of the 10 Freeway in the background. When they moved in, Rodriguez gave his daughter first pick of the rooms. She chose the master bedroom, and her father painted it bubblegum pink with glow-in-the-dark stars.

Pricilla is an aspiring singer who enjoys singing karaoke in her room to Gwen Stefani. But she keeps writing, acting, art, teaching and dancing as backup careers. Any of those choices are fine with her father, as long as she earns at least a master’s degree before considering marriage and children.

This summer, Pricilla went to the YMCA’s Camp ELK near Wrightwood, but not before her father had all of his questions answered. Who would be watching the kids there? Are the activities dangerous -- has anyone ever gotten pregnant?

After Rodriguez’s worries were calmed, Pricilla attended camp for eight days, where she swam every day and completed a heat-scorched five-hour hike. She also met three foster kids at camp and heard their stories about living in group homes, which helped Pricilla put her own loss in perspective.

“She’s been a little bit more loving since she came back from camp,” Rodriguez said. “I think she realized how bad it could really be.”

Priscilla was among the 12,000 children who went to camp this summer, thanks to $2.1 million raised in the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign last year. Donations this season, which as of last week totaled $967,812, will ensure that just as many deserving children get the camp experience next summer.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.2 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, go to latimes.com/summercamp. To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash.

Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.