Dara Freed

Where you come from:  Manhattan

Where you live now:  Berkeley, CA (after Brooklyn)

Age at the time of the photograph: 32

How old you expect to live to be:  somewhere between 60 and 1000

Q:  What is something that gives you real joy in life?
A:  my children…my husband…my dog…my beautiful, wonderful family

Q:  What about yourself do you really like?
A:  I like that I feel comfortable enough to live my life the way I want to live it and don’t feel like I have to conform to other people’s ideas of how I should live

Q: Have you ever known anyone who died of AIDS?
Yes, family friends – people of my parents’ generation

Q:  Have you ever known anyone who died at a young age?
A:  I had a cousin who died at age 12; she was my favorite cousin ~ I really loved her…I was maybe 6 when she died.  I got her Barbie dolls

Q:  What would you like to see people do to change the world?
A:  show respect for all, including children!  respect the earth as well as the people who are on it.  take responsibility for how you live and what you do ~ not just thinking that it’s someone else’s problem that someone else will deal with the problem and thinking what you can do right now, not just waiting for some other time in the future.

Q:  What are some of the funnest times you’ve ever had?
A:  amazing times driving across country, especially when Niels and I were first together and it was a huge eye-opening experience.

when I was a kid and we traveled to places like Iran or Greece ~ places that have cultures that are really different than my own.

and any time I’m on the beach and/or with friends