About a year ago, Caroline and I volunteered to guest-edit an issue of the Exponent II. This image, a collage by Emma Taylor, appeared on the cover of the finished product.
Our “Southern California” issue just came out two weeks ago. It’s been a thrill to receive feedback from our readers.
:)
Yesterday, my friend David sent this link to a news story about Sky High Hope Camp. I was a camper at SHHC for several years—primarily during high school. To say that Sky High is a magical place would be an understatement. In fact, as I sat back today to remember my time there, I couldn’t help but grin widely at the flood of memories. Yes, I remember that it was uncomfortable, dirty, hot, primitive, etc. But it was so FUN!
Perhaps for me, as a cancer survivor and young teen, the most important part of camp was the social interaction. Everyone there had been touched by cancer. Many of us were still sick or suffering side-effects of treatment. Being an amputee at SHHC was no big deal. Canes, crutches and wheelchairs were commonplace.
But most of all, it was a place where we could just be kids (or in my case, teens). There no one asked goofy questions about our baldness or disability. There we were all ‘normal.’ And as someone who desperately needed friends who could understand what I’d been through, I craved the companionship of other teens who had been through the same.
I remember long nights of card games, sneaking out in the middle of the night behind the counselor’s backs and being in cabins or tents where I shouldn’t have been. We often broke the rules, but our rule-breaking seemed justifiable in light of the fact that our lives had been so cruelly ‘broken’ by disease. It hardly seemed mentionable that we were in the wrong cabin, when each of us was facing death’s door.
At camp I also experienced love—the kind of teen love that can leap tall buildings and climb high mountains. Camp provided numerous opportunities for romance and it flourished every year. Though I have fond memories of
Yesterday my friend Susan visited from Utah along with her husband and her 3 little boys. It was pretty crazy having so many people packed into our small place!
But it was also delightful to get “caught up” on everything that’s been going on in her life. When we’re together I often feel like we’ve hardly been apart! Her husband is contemplating a move down to Orange County. I know it’s premature to even _hope_ that she might be living nearby, but what fun that would be!!
After Susan left I went to Outhouse–my weekly meeting with other liberal Mormons. John led the discussion on “male Mormon feminists.” (You, like most people, might be asking if there is such a thing–we hashed that one out for about 2 hours!). It was great–we laughed, talked, fought a bit, and really had a very passionate discussion. I feel so lucky to have these friends. They make life so much more fun and meaningful.