Some of my readers may not be aware that my father is a pretty important guy when it comes to homelessness. He's like the godfather of the homeless of Long Beach. Except not as scary. (Note to self: Do not blog after midnight. Sentences become stupid. Metaphors become inane.) At some point in time, everyone of his children - yeah, that would be me and my siblings - has worked for him in some capacity. I typed addresses into a computer and folded newsletters. My oldest sister single-handedly constructed the Long Beach winter shelter last year (slight exaggeration, but she deserves a lot of kudos). My other sister has done smart work for him as well, and it looks as though growing up and getting a 'real' job hasn't quite satisfied. She's coming back, hubby in tow, to ride in the Long Beach Marathon (or whatever it's called), all for the sake of raising money for the Long Beach Rescue Mission. Anyone interested in supporting her ride (she's one of our frequent commentators, by the way), by giving money to the mission, visit this site. I'll update this post with more information about the ride when I am not stupid with midnight. On the other hand, if you're curious, you could just google it yourself. :)
Working at the Main Library has surprising advantages. Just now I stepped out of my office, walked five paces across the hall, scanned a badge, and walked under the civic center plaza to the elevator that stretches from beneath the earth up to the mayor’s office on the fourteenth floor. I didn’t have so far to go—just up one level to the utilities counter, where a sympathetic, amused woman named Sue shut down my gas payments. It took less than five minutes. I finished packing up my kitchen days ago. My cake pans were in boxes sometime early last week. But as I walked through the underground loading dock on my way back to the office, I was distinctly aware of the finality of what I’d just done. I would never, from that moment on, be able to bake for anyone out of that kitchen. Maybe it doesn’t seem like a very big deal, but I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of a certain identity, namely being “the person who bakes a lot”. I made a tiered wedding cake for some friends (because...
The title "Family Business" gave me the immediate impression that your family were a bunch of assassians or in the mafia or something... :)
ReplyDeletei know. :) my dad actually read this blog entry. it popped up on his google radar notice thing and he read it aloud at dinner. laughing.
ReplyDeleteYes, support me supporting him supporting the mission! Because I can't support the homeless in my own town. Or something. Ride, ride, ride! Yay bikes!
ReplyDeleteok, do youonly have sisters now or what? where am I in this? I contributed! I love you anyway.
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