Let me start by saying my heart breaks for anyone living in fear, those showing symptoms, and everyone who has lost a loved one. Truly, there are no words. I’m lucky. I’m…
Life As it Is
I was raised by my Depression-era grandparents who grew up in very large, very poor families. As a child, I sat beside my grandmother in front of the fireplace, my grandfather across…
In the middle of Skid Row, men and women filter into Homeless Health Care of Los Angeles (HHCLA) on a sunny, Thursday morning. Each holds a bag containing used syringes. These needles…
I walked along a side street in the downtown neighborhood known as Skid Row. Tents and lean-tos lined the sidewalk, so as much as possible, I kept to the middle of the…
Every year I go out on New Year’s Eve, and wherever I go, I’m sure to end up singing the scattered lines I know of “Auld Lang Syne”. In my off-key best,…
There are no longer any children in my immediate family. No bouncing babes to scream as they sit on some creepy Santa’s knee. No toddlers pulling over the adorned tree, as they…
Parents tiptoe into the bedroom where their child sleeps toasty warm. With secret agent stealth they place a bow-bedecked basket on the bed and step back. Instantly, the fur ball jumps out,…
October rolled through bringing us our beloved pumpkin-spice lattes as well as the roller coaster ride we call the holiday season. The plastic jack-o-lanterns that so recently cluttered store shelves have already…
“My brain can’t think of all these body parts at one time! I need to get rid of my arms,” I complained. My dance teacher, Ashley Perretta, made that here-we-go-again face, and…
We cannot let the magnitude of the problem cause us to hide our heads in the littered beach sand. Our planet demands our action. Pictures of dead seals caught in plastic netting…