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Crine
Al Kroesch (pronounced “kresh”), his wife Faye, and their weiner dog Willie, lived across the street and six doors down from me when I was growing up in Glendale. They were old-age retirees when I was a boy, and I trace my fastidiousness back to them. I used to call it my “OCD” until I…
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Merry CHRISmas
An obese, bearded man, dressed head-to-toe in what look like red velvet pajamas with white, faux-fur piping, patent leather boots, and a matching belt with a belt buckle the size of a Buick wrapped around his enormous, bulbous waist parks his wagon propelled by flying mammals on your roof. He manages to squeeze into and…
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Orange!
My hometown of Glendale in California, a suburb of Los Angeles known as “the jewel city of the Verdugos,” prides itself on not being a part of “the Valley,” properly named the San Fernando Valley. It sits at the east end of the Valley, and the Verdugo Mountains, foothills of the much larger San Gabriel…
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Fifteen
Today, and every October 4th, is the Roman Catholic feast day (commemoration) of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, patron of animals and the environment, champion of the poor and outcast, and the namesake of my alma mater. In 1980, I was a student at Toll Junior High School, a public school…
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Swimming to Long Beach
29 miles off the coast of the continental United States, located southwest of Los Angeles, you’ll find the island of Santa Catalina, known simply as Catalina to Angelenos. The Glendale Y.M.C.A. has operated a week-long summer camp on the island at their facility known as Camp Fox since 1926. It was here that my father,…
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Mothering
After telling people that I’m adopted, the most common reply is a look of shock and then some variation on the question, “So, do you know your birthmother?” Now, I’m smart enough to understand the question, but I believe that’s an unfortunate phrase, because in every way that matters my “adoptive” mother gave birth to…
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Miradero
Leslie Coombs Brand was born on May 12th, 1859 in Florissant, Missouri. His family was quite wealthy, but when Leslie was 10 years-old, his father died and left his mother with no means of supporting the family. The next year, during a particularly severe blizzard in 1870, when many of his siblings were stricken with…
Your mileage may vary.