Teenage Naivete in a Dangerous World

The other day there was an article in the paper about two teenage girls who ran away from home. The story first appeared on the weekend, only it was regarding one missing girl. As the police began to investigate and ask questions, it turns out the girl, and her friend decided to run away from …

Read more

Watch Your Kids

When I was a kid, one of the stories I heard a lot was about how my older brother Dan, when he was a toddler, drank ant poison. My other brother Jim, two years older than Dan, told my mother and she took him to the hospital. His stomach was pumped and he suffered no …

Read more

Protecting Kids Against Predators

Years ago when I was in college and renting an apartment with two other girls, we were burglarized. A window had been left open when we all left for the day and the thief crawled in, stole what ever he could stuff in his pockets and fled. He took change, some jewelry and a lot …

Read more

One More Trip (Re-Post in Honor of my Mom)

I suppose that when a loved one passes, those left behind often have a “one more” wish. One more talk, one more hug, one more day, etc. For me when I learned my mother’s cancer was out of control, my one more was one more trip. My mother was an inspiration to me in so …

Read more

About Friends

When I was a kid in Girl Scouts we used to sing a song that went something like this: “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.” I liked that song, sang it often because the tune was easy for me to carry. But it’s only as I get …

Read more

About Teenagers

The other day I was sitting in a sandwich shop eating lunch. It was after three in the afternoon so school was out. There’s a high school just up the street from the sandwich place so consequently the shop was packed with students. In the group closest to where I sat, there was a guy …

Read more

Abby the Labby and Her Training

My home in the mountains is surrounded by forest. There are hiking trails everywhere and a few wide, clear fire roads to hike on. A few years ago, a man from the neighborhood went on a hike. Not a big deal, there are hikers up there all the time. But this man went on a …

Read more

Seeing Los Angeles Through My Mother’s Eyes

My mother was born in 1924. She grew up in Los Angeles, sometimes living in the city proper, sometimes in an outlying area. Her LA is vastly different from the LA I see in my minds eye. The LA I see is a crush of freeways, traffic, and bad tempered drivers. The freeway transitions are …

Read more

Thoughts on Aging (And a Little Venting)

One day while I was working in a black and white police car on patrol, a dispatcher sent me a message over the car computer asking me if I could help someone with a non-police problem. A very old, and very confused, woman had called 911 because she couldn’t turn the hot water off in …

Read more