Personal Statements

Personal Statements

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Personal Statements
Personal Statements
Bodies in Space

Bodies in Space

can't live without them

Irena Smith's avatar
Irena Smith
Jul 24, 2025
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Personal Statements
Personal Statements
Bodies in Space
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Hi everyone! I’m writing this from family camp, where we’ve been coming with our children every year since 2003. Our youngest was two and a half when we started; she is now 24. There are staggering mountain views for miles and hiking for miles and a lake and morning yoga and evening campfires. It’s remarkable to have a place to come back to year after year, watching your children (and other people’s children) transform from toddlers to teenagers to adults while the granite cliffs around you stand guard as they have for inconceivably long periods of time.

views for miles

My husband and I were young parents when we first came to family camp; now all of our children have aged out. After aging out, all three of them worked as staff here; two of them were lifeguards, keeping an eagle eye on the pool or the lake. And all of this (plus a recent Substack by

Eileen Dougharty
) made me think about bodies and aging and the ways we move through time and space.

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