Having a Positive Effect

Driving to work this week, I stopped at the traffic light by Jeremy’s Coffee Shop at Honolulu and Ramsdell avenues (great breakfasts there, by the way). As I waited for the light to change, I saw a car pull into Jeremy’s lot and two gals got out. They were sisters who I used to bowl with, back in the ’80s, at Verdugo Hills Bowl where Vons is at Pennsylvania Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. I didn’t get a chance to holler over to them, but seeing them brought back some fond memories.

Back in the ’80s, Steve and I had been married only a short time and owned our own business – Crescenta Valley Cable. Times were lean and one of the few activities that we indulged in was bowling leagues. I bowled one morning a week and both of us bowled on a Friday night league. We had some great fun and met some wonderful people – some with whom we’re still friends.

My morning bowling league, which was all ladies, was a particularly cathartic time for me. I was the mom of a youngster (Patrick arrived 11 months after we married) and I was constantly battling the stresses of owning our own business in addition to questioning my mothering skills. The ladies of that bowling league were truly a blessing to me at that time. Looking back, I remember crying on their shoulders – sometimes literally – about my fears of going broke with the business and my disappointment about not being able to get pregnant again. These women bolstered my confidence and listened to my fears; I never felt judged and was grateful for them. And when I did get pregnant with Matthew, they brought out a cake that had been airbrushed with a very pregnant likeness of me.

I’m thankful that, over the years, people were brought into my life to help me through the tough times. In the mid-90s, I worked at Warner Bros. Records as a temp. In the first four months of 1996, I experienced the deaths of six people who were important to me, including the murder of one of my co-workers and the death of my mother. Though I left Warner Bros. Records when my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, those people kept in contact with me.

Then, after the dust had settled, I tried to reconnect with them – to no avail. I firmly believe that they had been brought into my life to help me through some tough times, then, when the times had passed, their purpose (for me) was over.

I have never been shy about the struggles I have here at the Crescenta Valley Weekly. I’m constantly worried about money, personnel and business in general. But I’m reminded about something that was once said to me, that CV Weekly is a chronicle of the history of our valley, that the things that are written and the stories that are shared oftentimes end up on a parent’s refrigerator or someone’s memory book. I’m proud that, like those who helped me in my journey over the years, CV Weekly is positively affecting the lives of our readers.

Thank you for that opportunity.

  robin goldsworthy