Couldn’t Do It Without Them

This has been a different week. For the last 10 or so years I have ridden in the Patriot Day Motorcade. Held on Sept. 11, the motorcade commemorates the attacks on America in 2001 and the lives lost in those attacks. In the motorcade we would ride past several businesses and local schools. We would see students waving flags and cheering on our first responders who were part of the motorcade. The enthusiasm of the students was incredible – especially when considering that many of them weren’t even born when the attacks happened. Apparently the solemnity of the day was not lost on them.

But this year I didn’t ride in the motorcade. Early in the morning Steve and I were on a plane bound for North Carolina so I wasn’t even in town when the motorcade took place. But I relish the photos and the write up that Mary O’Keefe did (you can read it on page 5) that made me feel like I was there.

A special shout-out goes out to Dwight Sityar, a Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce board member, who was essential to organizing this event. 

In North Carolina, I was prepared for humid weather; thankfully that wasn’t the case. In fact, on Saturday when Steve and I visited a nearby farm we found the weather quite comfortable. (It should be noted, however, that we did spray ourselves – liberally – with insect and tick repellent.) 

As I write this, I am still in North Carolina. The skies are overcast but there isn’t much rain – though I heard that SoCal will see a 20% (or greater) chance for rain from Wednesday through the weekend. I’ll see about staying a few extra days. Seems the weather in North Carolina will be better than in Southern California.

Let me just say that I know I can stay longer in North Carolina because of the incredible crew I have at the CV Weekly. I’m grateful to them all.

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It was a shock to hear about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. To be honest, I really didn’t know much about Kirk. I have since learned a lot including that he was relatively young – 31 years old – and had a family when he was killed.

This week’s Spiritually Speaking (in the religion section of the paper) offers advice on how to address issues, such as the public killing of people, when talking to young kids. The question posed to local clergy includes, “How do you talk to young kids about the violence and hatred in the world?” 

Isn’t it sad that this issue even needs to be addressed?