More Losses

Last week I shared with you the loss of the mom of one of my friends. Elaine, though, was over 80 years old and her quality of life had greatly deteriorated. Some might consider her death a blessing.

Then on Thursday I learned that a man I met through the Glendale Kiwanis, T.J. Denton, had died. T.J. was much younger – in his early 60s – and had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Learning that T.J. died was a shock to me. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was just a nice guy. I feel privileged to know him and to interact with him. His obituary is in this week’s paper and I’m so glad that his wife Barbara allowed the CV Weekly to share the news with the community of his passing.

Another loss this week is experienced by our entire community. The closure of local restaurant Star Café (2217 Honolulu Ave.) left its patrons in shock. Though Steve and I don’t eat out that often, when we did Star Café was oftentimes where we would go. Star’s butternut squash ravioli and butternut squash soup were my favorites – as well as those incredible rolls – and I’m sure everyone had their favorites as well.

Mary tried, in vain, to get in touch with the owner and or manager but to no avail. She, like most of us, wants to know why they closed and if they plan to open elsewhere. We’ll keep you posted.

Another type of loss is shared in the page 3 story written by Mary O’Keefe. Paul Kester is a Holocaust survivor and in many ways his childhood was lost to him. I listened to her interview with Paul and it was bone chilling to hear. Please take the time to read the story.

Finally, in many ways the elections this year (in my opinion) are robbing us of faith in our country. We have people shouting about a bundle of conspiracies that are questionable at best and (again, to me) insane at worst. Just today Mary was reading a social media post from one woman who was supposedly chastising (to put it nicely) another woman on a variety of things – including the way she raises her children. The thing is the woman doing the chastising was not “talking” to the mother but to her children via the app Messenger. Huh? To me it’s another example of how harmful (and dangerous) social media can be.

You know, the massive layoffs this week of LA Times journalists by the newspaper creates a variety of issues – not the least is that writers will no longer be heard who take the time to delve into issues that affect many of us. Though I am no lover of the Times, I recognize the value it had and the loss suffered due to the layoffs.