San Pedro Today - December 2016

DECEMBER 2016

COMMUNITY RALLIES FOR LOCAL CHICAGO CUBS FAN | 6TH & PACIFIC FIRE: ONE YEAR LATER | CHALLENGE AT CHANNEL STREET

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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November sure was one heck of a month.

I’m not even talking about the election. As a lifelong baseball fan, I’m still reeling over the Chicago Cubs’ World Series victory. While 2016 is proving itself to be one crazy year, if you’d have told me in January that the Cubs would break the “Curse of the Billy Goat” and win it all, I’d have laughed in your face and quipped back, “Oh yeah, and Donald Trump is going to be president!” Hey, I didn’t think it would happen either.

I spent the end of October and the beginning of November gallivanting around Europe, specifically Paris and Berlin, with short stops in Freiburg (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland). My trip was poorly timed since it coincided with the World Series. Had I known the Cubs would be in it, I would’ve rescheduled. But since I was committed to go, I spent my first week searching for bars around Paris that would carry the ballgame.

Unfortunately, I struck out.

The reason I bring this up is because one of our featured stories this month is about Rich D’Anna and his amazing tale of making it to Chicago with his family to attend game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field. The story, written by my dear friend, ESPN reporter Shelley Smith, chronicles how a community rallied behind a man’s quest to knock a very important item off his bucket list. I’m not going to spoil the details here, you should read the story, but I must thank Rich in this public forum for helping me experience one of the most amazing moments in sports history.

Game 7 of the World Series happened on my first night in Berlin. It started at 2 a.m.

Berlin time. And even though Berlin is a very metropolitan city, I couldn’t find a bar open that was carrying the game live. Tired and depressed, thinking I wasn’t going to be able to watch a single frame of this momentous game live, I opted to stay in my hotel room and follow the game online through Facebook and Twitter. Little did I know, Rich, unbeknownst to him, was going to be the guy to bring the World Series to me.

As you’ll read in the story, Rich changed his plans and extended his stay in Chicago when it seemed like the series was going to go seven games. And since game 7 was in Cleveland, Rich and his family were watching the game on television in their Airbnb rental, just blocks from Wrigley Field. The best part about this situation for me was that Rich also decided to chronicle his World Series experience via Facebook Live, which meant that even though I couldn’t watch the game proper in Germany, I could watch the game through his phone as he broadcast himself and his family’s reactions watching the game from their living room, which is exactly how I ended up watching game 7 of the World Series in Berlin.

The end of the series was an incredible one. I watched the final out via Facebook Live while everyone was going crazy. I’m sure I wasn’t alone watching since Rich’s story touched so many and his use of modern technology enabled him to share his experience in a much more intimate way that made the story even more special. Even though I was 6,000 miles away, I felt like I was right there in Chicago with him, celebrating at 5 a.m.

Berlin time with everyone in the states, alone in my hotel room.

So thanks, Rich, for helping this weary traveler experience the breaking of the curse.

On a personal note, I want to also thank everyone who reached out to me and my family on the passing of my grandfather, Bill Stecker, who died on November 6. He was a sweet, funny and kind soul who affected so many people in this town. More than 350 people showed up to his funeral, which is an amazing testament to a great man I was blessed to call Grandpa. I'll have more to say about my grandpa's life in next month's issue. Until then, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year. spt Joshua Stecker is publisher/editor-in-chief of San Pedro Today. Letters to the Editor can be emailed to contact@sanpedrotoday.com.

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DECEMBER 2016 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I 5

DECEMBER 2016

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joshua J. Stecker

ADVERTISING: General Inquiries: ads@sanpedrotoday.com

ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION Joseph A. Castañeda

Patricia Roberts - San Pedro (562) 964-8166 | patricia@sanpedrotoday.com

AT-LARGE CONTRIBUTORS Jack Baric, Lori Garrett, Andy Harris, Steve Marconi, Anthony Pirozzi, Shelley Smith, Leonard Trubia

Shana Ghekiere - San Pedro (and outer regions) (310) 753-5176 | shana@sanpedrotoday.com

PHOTOGRAPHER John Mattera Photography

OWNER/PUBLISHER Joshua J. Stecker

CONTACT INFO: PHONE: (424) 224-9063 EMAIL: contact@sanpedrotoday.com

San Pedro Today P.O. Box 1168, San Pedro, CA 90733

San Pedro Today publishes the last Thursday of every month and is produced monthly by Empire22 Media LLC. No portion of this publication can be reproduced without written permission by Empire22 Media. 25,000 copies are delivered to San Pedro and portions of Rancho Palos Verdes.

San Pedro Today is a product of Empire22 Media LLC. Empire22 Media LLC, their subsidiaries and affiliates are released from all liability that may involve the publication of San Pedro Today.

Copyright 2009-2016, Empire22 Media LLC.

VOLUME 8 | NUMBER 11

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ON THE COVER: Jaime Maggio photographed at the Spectrum SportsNet studio in Manhattan Beach (photo: John Mattera)

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DECEMBER Tour the historic PT. FERMIN LIGHTHOUSE, built in 1874 to light the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor, located in the Pt. Fermin Park (807 Paseo del Mar). Guided tours offered 1-3p Tues thru Sun. Closed Mon and major holidays.

Admission is free; donations accepted.

EVERY WEEK – STRONG PEDRO PROJECT at Plaza Park (10th St. & Beacon St.) Tuesday 5p - Run Club with Lauren Maes; Wednesday at 6:45a - TRX circuit is Carla Baccio & Marianne O'Brien; Friday 4:30p - Taught by Councilman Joe Buscaino; Saturday 9am - Glute Camp with Ricky Magana; Saturday 11:30a - Yoga with Mike Aspinwall. Open to the public. Presented by StrongPedroProject.

Every Wed – CHILDREN’S WRITING CLASSES at the Corner Store (1118 37th St). Seven Golden Secrets of Writing with Diana Chapman, Wed 4:30-5:45p. For info, call (310) 626-7906.

Every Fri – SAN PEDRO FARMERS MARKET (6th St. between Pacific and Mesa Streets) 9a-2p.

Every Sat – LAFD HARBOR MUSEUM (639 Harbor Blvd.)

10a-3p. Experience San Pedro and Wilmington's Fire Protection and Rescue service history with vintage fire apparatus and various displays. The museum is located in Old Fire Station 36 in the San Pedro City Hall. Admission is FREE, donations are accepted.

Every first and second Sunday – Tour the MULLER HOUSE MUSEUM (1542 Beacon St.) 1-4p. Last tour starts at 3:15p.

Built in 1899, the Muller House is the headquarters of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society. Admission is free, but a donation of $3 is encouraged.

1 (Thurs) – FIRST THURSDAY ARTWALK in Downtown and 6th St. 1p. More than 9,000 community members will San Pedro. 6-10p come together to showcase the best that our community has to offer. Make sure to stop by and help make this parade the 2 (Fri) – LITTLE COMPANY OF MARY HOLIDAY best yet! Remember to dress warmly!

BOUTIQUE & BAKE SALE (1300 W. 7th St.) 7a-2p. There will be homemade baked goods, handmade Doll House, 7 (Wed) – ADULT EDUCATION AT TEMPLE BETH raffles, jewelry, Handmade holiday items. All the proceeds EL (1435 W 7th St.) 7:30p. Continu-ing with Dr. Arlene go toward the Auxiliary Health Career Scholarship fund.

Lazarowitz, speaking on Between the Wars: Anxious American Jews confront anti-Semitism at home and the 3 (Sat) - BOOK SALE at San Pedro Regional Branch Library realities of anti-Semitism in Europe. Admission: $18 paid (931 S. Gaffey St.) 11a-4p. The Friends of San Pedro Library in ad-vance or $20 at the door. For more info, call (310-833will be hosting their monthly book sale and donating all 2467) or visit www.bethelsp.org. its proceeds to the library. Make sure to stop by for lots of bargains on books, CDs, Magazines, and much more. Or 10 & 11 (Sat & Sun) – SAN PEDRO CITY BALLET’S ‘THE come visit The Friends' book store inside the library, open NUTCRACKER’ at the Warner Grand Theatre (478 W. 6th Mon-Sat, 1-5p.

St.) This year marks the San Pedro City Ballet’s 23rd annual production of The Nutcracker, which is a family-friendly 3 (Sat) – LOS ANGELES HARBOR HOLIDAY AFLOAT show that features dance, magic, elabo-rate sets, and PARADE at the Los Angeles Waterfront. 6p. The parade will beautiful costumes. Performances take place on Saturday, be held on Saturday, December 3rd beginning at 6p in the December 10 at 2p and 7p, and Sunday, October 11 at 2p.

Port’s East Basin. Viewing locations along the parade route, Tickets: $19 for children under 12 and seniors over 62; $29 located in Wilmington, the San Pedro water-front, Ports O’ for adults; and $39 for premiere seating. Tickets and more Call, Warehouse #1, Cabrillo and Holiday Harbor Marinas info can be found at www.sanpedrocityballet.org. and more, will afford spectators unencumbered views of the elaborately decorated boats and the opportunity for 12 (Mon) – LADY OF GUADALUPE CELEBRATION at friends and family to join in the celebration, whether taking Holy Trinity Church (1292 W. Santa Cruz St.). 6a. Mariachi advantage of the many restaurants and clubs at Ports O’ Call Serenade and a Rose Procession (please bring a rose). Mass or organizing an informal pot-luck. Join us in making the will be at 6:30a followed immediately by a reception in the 54th L.A. Harbor Holiday Afloat parade truly spectacular parish center auditorium. Everyone is welcome. as we celebrate the beginning of the holiday season in the nation’s largest international trade gateway. For more info, 17 (Sat) – GOLDEN STATE POPS ORCHESTRA ‘HOLIDAY visit www.laharborholidayafloat.org.

POPS SPECTACULAR!’ at the Warner Grand Theatre (478 W. 6th St.). 8p. The nationally acclaimed Golden State Pops 4 (Sun) – HOLY TRINITY ANNUAL CHRISTMAS Or-chestra presents "Holiday POPS Spectacular,” a concert BOUTIQUE & PANCAKE BREAKFAST at Holy Trinity of joyous music and high spirits. Cele-brate the holiday Parish Center Auditorium (209 N. Hanford Ave.). 8-11:30a. season by joining world renowned conductor, Maestro Eve-ryone is invited to join us in the for a delicious breakfast Steven Allen Fox, the GSPO and the GSPO Chorale, led by (8-11:30 a.m.) of pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee prepared Choir Maestra Marya Basaraba, for a festive performance of by the Holy Trinity School 8th grade families and served by timeless holiday film music and traditional favorites that will the 8th grade class. The cost is only $6 per adult, $4 per child. be sure to put you in the holiday mood! A great L.A. holiday All proceeds benefit the 8th grade class activities. Once you tradition for the whole family. Tickets: $30-$60. Receive 15% have enjoyed your breakfast, please stay and purchase some off with code “GSPOWeb” when ordering online at www. beautiful one-of-a-kind gifts and parishioner handmade GSPO.com or call (310) 433-8774. goodies from our Annual Christmas Boutique (8a-1p).

Now thru Jan. 4 – ANNUAL HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE at Assistance League of San Pedro-South Bay Chapter House (1441 W. 8th St.) 10a-5p. Get an early start on your holiday shopping at the Assistance League of San Pedro-South Bay’s Annual Holiday Boutique. The boutique is fea-turing food items, stocking stuffers, children’s gifts, holiday decorations and many more wonder-ful gift selections that will make your shopping easy. All proceeds benefit local philanthropic pro-grams. Runs Nov. 15 - Jan. 4th. Sale Hours: 10a-5p Email event info to events@sanpedrotoday.com. (weekdays) and 11a-3p (Saturdays). For more info, please call (310) 832-8355 ext. 221 4 (Sun) - 36TH ANNUAL SPIRIT OF SAN PEDRO Deadline for the January issue is Friday, HOLIDAY PARADE in downtown San Pedro on Pacific Ave December 16. All locations in San Pedro unless

8 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

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'Nutcracker' Fueled by SP Ballet’s Outreach Program

by SPT Staff Few things ring in the holiday season more than listening to Tchaikovsky’s music while watching the professional dancers from San Pedro City Ballet perform their annual production of The Nutcracker at the Warner Grand Theatre.

This year’s 23rd annual production, which runs December 10 and 11, is extra special due to the success of SPCB’s afterschool outreach program. Cast as Clara’s brother Fritz, a leading role in the show, is 11-year-old Joaquyn McCowan, a student at Alexander Fleming Middle School in Lomita and part of SPCB’s afterschool outreach program, DancEd Steps Up. The goal of DanceEd Steps Up is to identify talented students and provide the intensive instruction and support at San Pedro Ballet School, free of charge, that will allow them to pursue a professional career in dance.

This type of afterschool program was how SPCB artistic director, Cynthia Bradley, discovered Misty Copeland. McCowan’s father, Lawrence McCowan, was part of a similar outreach dance program in the late '90s.

McCowan has been training his ballet technique rigorously six-hours a week. In September, he auditioned for the company’s prestigious production of The

Nutcracker, where he landed the coveted young male role of Fritz, which features solo dancing in the first act.

“Ballet has helped me to be more focused,” McCowan said in a statement. “My dream is to be a professional dancer, and I'm on my way to fulfilling that dream.”

As part of its community outreach program, SPCB will also welcome 1,400 third-grade students from Wilmington and San Pedro to watch The Nutcracker for free on December 9. This is the second year in a row that SPCB has collaborated with event organizer Lora Caudill, who is the principal of Leland Street Elementary School, to introduce students to the art of ballet. spt San Pedro City Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the Warner Grand Theatre (478 W. 6th St.) runs Saturday, December 10, at 2 p.m. & 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 11, at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $19 for children under 12 and seniors over 62; $29 for adults; and $39 for premiere seating. Tickets and more info can be found at www.sanpedrocityballet.org.

Danielle Ciaramitaro as Clara and Joaquyn McCowan as Fritz in San Pedro City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker (photo: Michael Farmer)

DECEMBER 2016 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I 9

VOICES

Improvements at Historic San Pedro Cemetery Get the Green Light

by Steve Marconi San Pedro got an early Christmas present from the city when it approved funds for the rehabilitation of tiny Harbor View Memorial Cemetery.

San Pedro’s first and only cemetery before Green Hills opened in 1949, Harbor View, located where Grand Avenue dead-ends at 24th Street, has been in disrepair for decades under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department. A community committee spearheaded by the three oldest Roupoli brothers, whose DiRocco ancestors are buried there, has been pressuring the city for some time, and backed by Councilman Joe Buscaino’s office has finally gotten the city to act.

After years of neglect, Parks and Rec will spend $300,000 to put in a new walkway, redo the grass, add sprinklers and then maintain the grounds. Repairs already have been made to the fence to keep vagrants off the property.

It certainly didn’t hurt that Richard Roupoli, a retired LAPD deputy chief, and brother Lou, a retired LAFD chief, had experience dealing with the city bureaucracy. Even with that, Richard said, “I was shocked when we got it approved. I almost fell out of my chair.”

When you think of some of the ways the city spends its money, however, it’s shameful

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that it’s taken this long to clean up not just one of its most historic sites but a still active cemetery.

The DiRocco’s were a pioneer fishing family in San Pedro. Just inside the entrance is the Rudecinda Sepulveda mausoleum, so old that no one even knows which members of that Los Angeles founding family are interred within. There are the graves of the sailors killed in the 1908 explosion aboard the USS Tennessee and graves of Civil War veterans who spent their final years in San Pedro. A total of 719 graves will be getting the respect they deserve.

Steve Roupoli, the third of six Roupoli siblings, says work should begin early next year.

Richard has seen the plans and says, “It’s going to look really, really nice.”

A list of interments can be found at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~casbcgs/ HarborVwCem.html. Better yet, visit the grounds in person, and keep in mind that when the cemetery opened in 1883, there really was a harbor view.

The Road More Traveled In the absence of the original “Mayor of Western Avenue,” I have decided unilaterally to fill in on an interim basis.

Before anyone objects, please consider it’s a dubious honor at best. The main qualification is to simply have spent more time on Western Avenue than anyone else (with the exception of the homeless regulars and parents whose kids could walk to school).

The previous “mayor” was someone we all recognized—the man in black. To those of us who commuted daily on Western Avenue, he was the ubiquitous figure with the mustache who kickboxed his way up and down Western, seemingly every day, wearing the same black pants and long-sleeve black turtleneck top, no matter what the temperature, replete with black gloves and a variety of black headgear, usually a bowler but sometimes a plumed pirate hat. He was definitely not homeless.

I had seen him on his route for years, and one day my old reporter’s instincts finally got the best of me, and I pulled the car over to ask him a few questions; not surprisingly, he was a little reticent. When I asked him his name, he said, “Coyote.” (And this was long before coyotes had become a problem in San Pedro.)

He appeared uncomfortable with my queries, became suspicious, and after a few nonsensical replies, headed off down the street again.

He’s been gone for some time now. I hope he’s well and will return, but in the meantime, someone has to guard the fort.

Now I’m not into kickboxing, but I think I have some pretty good “street cred” for being mayor pro tem. My elderly mother lives off of Western Avenue in Rancho Palos Verdes, just a stone’s throw from Dodson Middle School. My son and his family live in Point Fermin, and since the landslide closed Paseo del Mar, the quickest way for me to get to his house is down Western Avenue and take a left on 25th Street. I live right in between my mother and son, not far off Western Avenue near First Street. So between visiting the grandkids or picking them up for church or overnight stays, taking my mother to the doctor or routine appointments for her hair and nails or filling her shopping lists, and my own trips to the market, Home Depot or Target…well, you can see I spend a lot of time on one of the most overburdened stretches of road in Southern California.

It certainly needs a mayor, because the real mayors of Rancho Palos Verdes and Los Angeles don’t seem to be interested in advocating for the thousands of residents who traverse Western Avenue every day. And I don’t mean kickboxers or bicyclists. I welcome any challengers for the title. It’s a totally artificial office, but I do have a slogan to go along with it: Make Western Avenue Great Again. Sort of catchy, isn’t it? spt Steve Marconi can be reached at spmarconi@yahoo.com.

Thank you San Pedro for 30 Years of Support!

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“Can I say one thing? We don’t know how to listen to each other. You know, we go on Facebook all day and we just blast out messages… There’s no self-censoring. So we now say exactly what we feel. And, goddamn it, you’re gonna listen to me. And that’s really what it is right now. You’re gonna listen to me. I’m not gonna learn from you. You’re gonna listen to me.”

These excerpts, from 60 Minutes, ran two nights before the election in a piece called, “The National Mood.” The report opined that we have become a self-centered society that has lost all sense of decorum. The presidential campaign brought this out in spades.

Let’s start with Hillary supporters. They are shocked anyone would vote for Trump.

Hillary lost the election in the traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states. Many of these voters live in one-factory towns that have been decimated when the factory closed and shipped jobs overseas. People in these towns feel frustrated, disenfranchised and hopeless.

They saw a primary election where the Democratic National Committee seemed to be doing everything in its power to tilt the nomination to Hillary, which further justified their beliefs that the elites in Washington and Wall Street only took care of their own and didn’t care about the ordinary people that a candidate like Bernie Sanders spoke so passionately about. They saw the Clintons raking in millions from foreign entities and their anger reached a boiling point.

When Trump talked about bringing jobs back from overseas, it at least gave a glimmer of hope to these forgotten places because nobody else seemed to be LISTENING to them.

And yet, people were still shocked that these folks voted against Hillary.

Trump supporters are outraged about all the protests surrounding his victory.

Trump ran a campaign that was often hateful and divisive. His style was to avoid policy debates and instead pound his opponents with insults. Lying Ted, Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco, and Crooked Hillary all became slogans for a candidate that loved his Twitter.

He was caught on tape bragging that he could grab women’s private parts and get away with it because he was powerful. He called for a ban on Muslims and he labeled undocumented Mexican-Americans as rapists and murderers, with almost no counterbalance that acknowledged that the vast majority of Mexican-Americans are decent hard working folks who only want what’s best for their families.

I was at an election night event where I saw several Mexican-Americans in tears because they viewed Trump’s victory as a sign that many of their neighbors didn’t want them here. I heard from many women who have been the victims of unwanted aggression from vile men. And people are outraged that anyone would protest Trump’s election?

I find great irony that the very same people who loudly spoke out against and blamed President Obama for anything and everything that happened over the past eight years are suddenly outraged by protests directed at a candidate they supported.

Watch the debate between both sides unfold and it reminds me of two kids fighting at the kitchen table. “Mom, he hit me!” “She hit me first! “He called me a name!” “No, I didn’t!” “Yes, you did!” This is what our national conversation has become. It’s childish, annoying, and completely unproductive. Aren’t you sick of it?

In San Pedro, this petulant behavior is exhibited daily on Facebook where people scream their moral outrage in posts directed against whatever or whomever they perceive as opponents. Their “friends” blast back rebuttals and it goes on and on (by the way, with friends like these, who needs enemies?)

It has to stop – even for only one day. Before writing this column, I called Joshua Stecker, the fine publisher of SPT, and invited him to join me in launching a campaign on December 1 called San Pedro Facebook Civility Day. On December 1, we urge all San Pedrans to refrain from inflammatory political (and other) Facebook commentary, to take the time to carefully consider the thoughts and opinions of others, and respond to them with respect. In summary, be nice!

This has potential! It can go down as the day a town named San Pedro saved the culture of our nation! Or…it’s just a nice way for San Pedro to start the holidays. spt Jack Baric can be reached at jackbaric@hotmail.com.

VOICES

United We Must Stand

14 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

by Anthony Pirozzi

It’s been a few weeks since the country voted for the 45th President of the United States of America. It was a brutal campaign that has taken us to the lowest of lows. Whether Democrat or Republican, many stood back and thought, is this all we have to choose from? After seeing our first African-American president serve two-terms as President of the United States, we were left to feel even more divided through this election season than in any other in recent times. Now, the peaceful transition of power begins as a signature of our democracy, but does our nation feel at peace?

The somewhat peaceful and at times disruptive protests on college campuses and in some cities leaves us with a sense of frustration that is radiating across the country. I experienced it first hand while in Las Vegas on a family vacation the weekend after the election. We found ourselves unexpectedly in the middle of an election protest march on the Las Vegas strip between the Flamingo and the Venetian as protestors made their way to Trump Tower. Seeing demonstrators on television versus finding yourself in the middle of thousands of demonstrators are two very different experiences. Although the protest was peaceful, it had its moments of spilling onto the Las Vegas strip stopping cars and drawing the attention of police officers. Obscenities were yelled out regarding our current president-elect while protestors and passing drivers yelled back and forth at each other.

One thing I noticed was how young many of the protestors were that night and realized that this may have been their first presidential election. As I witnessed the protestors, many things went through my mind, but most of it was anger. Not at the protestors, but rather struggling with the question of how did we get here? I have never felt so frustrated with our collective so called political leadership in my life. There are many times that the American people are lied to by some politicians who will say just about anything to win an election. In the end, we the American people decide the outcome, but may suffer collectively along the way causing division amongst us.

One thing that the pundits missed during this election was that something was brewing in small towns all across America, especially in the rust belt states. As we know, great middle class jobs have left this part of the country leaving cities and towns decimated, without work, and without hope for the future. That rural voice was heard loud and clear on election night and as the final votes are broken down demographically, we may be surprised with the final tally. We may never see another election like this one in our lifetime, but there is one thing for sure, change is in the air. Whether this change comes through our new president-elect or focused actions that today’s protestors might take over the next few years, the impact remains to be seen.

The great experiment that is our constitutional rights, powers and duties are not under siege, but rather working just as our forefathers designed them. Whether we like the election results or not, we must stand united and face the challenges of our towns, cities, states and nation together. We must listen to each other, not yell at each other. We must respect each other’s opinions, not dismiss them. Most importantly, we must work together to fix the issues that affect us all.

In many elections, the candidate I voted for did not win the presidential election.

However, once the results are in and the candidate is sworn in, they become my president.

This election will be no different. On January 20, 2017, the current President-Elect Donald J. Trump will become my president. I will not follow him blindly, but rather exercise my rights to express support or discontent for his policies. In the end, many who may not like the election results may continue to protest them, and many may never accept them.

That is called freedom. We must never forget that there are more things that unite us than divide us. spt Anthony Pirozzi is a L.os Angeles Harbor Commissioner. He can be contacted at apirozzi@yahoo.com.

DECEMBER 2016 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I 15

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Challenge at Channel Street

by Andy Harris, San Pedro Skatepark Association This is a tale of local people getting things done at the grassroots level and what happens when the government gets involved.

I’ll admit it, the skatepark under the 110 freeway started out as a selfish endeavor. The year was 2002. Robby, Danny, Mark, Hal, and myself just wanted someplace to skate for ourselves. Local officials had been talking skatepark plans for a couple years, but we knew it was going nowhere, and truthfully, we didn’t think they would build anything worthwhile anyway. A few of us had been to Burnside, a skatepark built by skaters up in Portland, Ore., under the Burnside Bridge, and we had heard about guys starting to build a similar spot down in San Diego under the Pacific Highway Bridge. Those guys were calling their spot the Washington Street Skatepark, after the road it sat next to.

We called our spot Channel Street. We started small, just a couple of roller bumps and a small quarter-pipe ramp, constructed out of on-site dirt and rocks and covered with chicken wire and ready-mix concrete purchased from the local Home Depot. The homeless population down there thought we were nuts. Looking back on this now, I realize they were right. But we kept building and the spot kept growing for years and years. The little hidden skate spot under the 110 freeway had gradually grown into a full-on DIY skatepark, maintained by a non-profit organization we created and shredded daily by a growing number of talented local skateboarders.

Around 2006, we started hearing rumblings about construction plans for the 110 freeway that would directly affect our park. At this point, the skatepark was well-known by skaters the world over, featured in major skate magazines and videos. It had also effectively become part of San Pedro. We carried a liability insurance policy and had support from the local city council office and the three police agencies who patrolled the area. The homeless and the drug addicts and the illegal dumpers who once dominated the lot were gone. The skaters were protecting their spot. Over the course of the next few years, the skaters attended meetings held by CalTrans and the Port of Los Angeles and were told time and again that our park was safe from the wrecking ball. We agreed to a one-year closure of the skatepark once construction began overhead. The Peck Park Skatepark became reality in 2014 partly because of this agreement. Channel Street closed in April 2014, amid promises of a smooth transition back into our hands once construction was complete.

Fast-forward to December 2016. The freeway project is complete, the contractor long gone. The Harbor Department has the park fenced up like a prison. The homeless and the drug addicts are back in full force. Trash and graffiti cover the park and the adjacent lot.

Where are the skaters, you ask? They are busy trying to get the park back. They are in meetings with the City Council office, with the Department of Building and Safety, with the Department of Planning. They are paying fees for permits and inspections and zoning modifications, paying structural engineers to draw plans of the site, and they are trying to stay positive in a situation that has become way more complicated than we could have ever imagined. Something so simple – a group of local people doing something positive for the community because the city at the time was not willing to do so – is mired in big city governmental “process.”

Just to be clear, this is not a crack at Council District 15 or the Port of Los Angeles. The council office has had our back in this project since day one, starting with Janice Hahn and continuing with Joe Buscaino. The Port of L.A., which jointly owns the property the park sits on with the Port of Long Beach, has repeatedly affirmed their support for our cause. I wholeheartedly believe that with the support of the community and our local government, we will get our park back. It is more the process I’m condemning here. We are no longer dealing with local agencies, we are dealing with Downtown L.A. We are in meetings with people who don’t have any sort of emotional or local attachment to San Pedro or its little DIY skatepark under the Harbor Freeway.

The Channel Street Skatepark is a fine example of why we love this town, and it is absolutely critical that we get this park re-opened and thriving for generations of skaters to come. spt

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Laker legend James Worthy with Maggio in the Spectrum SportsNet studio (photo: John Mattera)

22 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

Showtime!

Mary Star grad, Jaime Maggio, dazzles off the court as host of Access SportsNet and #LakeShow

by Joshua Stecker

It’s 8 p.m. and I can’t find Jaime Maggio. I’d been waiting outside a posh Manhattan Beach restaurant assuming we’d meet in front before heading in together, but after a few minutes of standing by myself, I decide to grab a drink at the bar. Little did I know she beat me to it, a glass of red wine in hand, standing at the bar top watching the Dodgers play the Cubs in game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

“What’s the score?” I asked, as the game was in commercials. The Dodgers were leading the Cubs 3-0 at this point (they would eventually win 6-0), and Maggio proceeds to tell me matter-of-factly how each run was scored, who drove who in, off what pitchers and in what innings. This is her language. This is her career. She speaks sports.

Maggio has been a familiar face on the local and national sports scene since the mid2000s, having covered nearly every major Southern California sports franchise at some point during her career, as well as national sideline reporting gigs for the NFL, NBA, MLB and college basketball’s March Madness.

Manhattan Beach has been her home for a little more than a decade, as evidenced by how many times she will excuse herself during our dinner conversation to greet someone she knows in the restaurant. (I counted three.) Even though San Pedro is only 30 minutes away, for Maggio, growing up there seems like a lifetime ago.

“That was something that I thought was awesome about San Pedro, that it was very close-knit,” remembers Maggio. “It was a little bit challenging for me at first, being an outsider. I don’t know why my dad chose to live there, because he didn’t have any ties or family or anything. So, it was a little jarring at first, but I got involved at school and that was a big facilitator for making friends and blending into the community. It was a good fit for me at the time, moving to a place where I didn’t know anybody.”

Originally from Long Island, New York, after her parents’ divorce, Maggio decided to head west and moved in with her father in San Pedro the summer before her freshman year of high school. She enrolled at Mary Star and was immediately a fish out of water due

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24 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

Worthy, Mike Bresnahan and Maggio during a break on #LakeShow; top right: Maggio’s senior picture from Mary Star; bottom right: Maggio (center) was crowned Prom Queen her senior year

to her then noticeable east coast accent.

“I was the new kid in town, and it was very intimidating,” she recalls. “Now people will say, ‘Oh, you’re from Long Island. I don’t detect an accent.’ Well, I moved to California for ninth grade and started high school saying (in her best fake New York accent) wahter and dawg and cawffee. You know, high school kids will make you break that habit real fast.”

It was at Mary Star where Maggio discovered her passion for public speaking. At the suggestion of her English and geometry teacher, Mr. O’Keefe, she entered and won the Lions Club speech contest. She then joined the Academic Decathlon at the behest of Mrs. Addison, and continued winning medals. “It had nothing to do with sports, but it was public speaking,” explains Maggio. “I thought, okay, this is interesting that I’m winning these awards for speech competitions. I was very, very passionate about sports and I thought, how do I mix the two? I thought I should do sports broadcasting.” (Mrs. Addison, now retired, still keeps in touch with Maggio via email and follows her career closely.)

Sports broadcasting, as one can imagine, is an incredibly competitive industry to break into, harder than an acting career, and Maggio certainly had to pay her dues.

After graduating high school in 1996, she earned a communications degree at UC Santa Barbara. Her first jobs in the sports broadcasting industry was as an operations assistant, talent coordinator and production manager on The Best Damn Sports Show Period at Fox Sports, all behind-the-scenes work.

Recognizing that she had more to offer, Maggio eventually landed in front of the camera doing small backstage hits for the web. “While I was at The Best Damn Sports Show, we did this segment with the guests in the green room called The Best Damn Bonus, which aired online. That was my little on-camera gig that I did for free on my own time.”

That “little gig” got her noticed, and soon she was shifting from behind-the-scenes to paid on-camera work. Her big break came in 2009 when she was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers as a courtside reporter, a job she had next to no experience for, but due to her talent and perseverance, the team gave her a shot. “The team at the time was god awful,” she says, “but the people in the [Sixers] organization were wonderful and I will forever be indebted to the people at Comcast that took a chance on me.”

After a short stint in Philly, Maggio came back to L.A. to work at KCAL/KCBS, working with the likes of Laker legend James Worthy and former Dodger Eric Karros, and co-hosting Sports Central. Soon after, she began doing sideline reporting for the NFL on Fox and the NFL Network, then shifting to Fox Sports West covering the Dodgers and Angels. “Then Time Warner came calling [in 2013], and said they’d like to bring me on for Lakers coverage. That was four years ago, and now here I am at Spectrum SportsNet.” THE #LAKESHOW The Spectrum SportsNet studio (formerly Time Warner Cable) is cold but inviting.

Maggio invites me to sit in on a taping of #LakeShow, the Lakers daily interactive program that relies heavily on social media engagement from fans (hence the hashtag name).

Keeping up with social media, for better or worse, has also become a fulltime job for Maggio. Her 58,000 Twitter followers and 23,000 Instagram fans follow her every word,

photo and video. “I think it’s a good source of information,” she says. “I have to be active, it’s part of the job, and it is hard. It’s hard because you don’t know how much you should open yourself up [to the world].” She’s had issues in the past with a few overzealous fans, which have been cause for alarm. But overall, the fans, especially Lakers fans, she says, treat her well.

The atmosphere in the studio is fun and relaxed. Lakers legend James Worthy walks past us into the makeup room to get ready for the show. Worthy, who’s worked with Maggio before at KCAL, is jovial and kind as he trades barbs with everyone, busting chops before showtime.

For the past four seasons, Maggio has been the face of the pre- and post-game shows for the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably the most popular NBA franchise in the country.

Tonight, she’s joined by Worthy and Mike Bresnahan, a former Lakers beat writer for the L.A. Times turned on-air analyst. Other nights, it’s not unusual to see other Lakers legends like Robert Horry or Derek Fisher in the studio. Her job is an embarrassment of riches for any NBA fan, and Maggio knows it.

“I didn’t grow up a Lakers fan,” she confesses, “but being around the team this many years, you get to know the people in the organization. You get to know the people in the front office… and it starts to feel a little bit like a family. Even though I didn’t grow up bleeding purple and gold, I bleed purple and gold now. And then working with James, how many organizations could I work for that has a James Worthy? Not that many.”

“I’ve watched her career, pretty much since the beginning,” says Bresnahan, “She’s the real deal. Smart and easy to work with. I follow her lead knowing I’m in good hands.”

As the fun subsides, everyone gets to work. Before entering the studio, Maggio is busy writing her scripts for tonight’s show. As easy as it may look on television, it takes a special kind of talent and training to do what she does. It’s hard to read a teleprompter and sound conversational at the same time, plus being able to hold your own in the moment with former NBA players and analysts takes smarts and confidence, two things she has in spades.

Maggio will tape a live 90-minute show before tonight’s Lakers away game against the Sacramento Kings. She’ll then watch the game over dinner in a conference room with the staff, and then finish up the evening with the postgame show. It’s two days since the presidential election, but you would never know it in the studio. The entire time I’m there, I didn’t hear one person mention politics. Frankly, it was a breath of fresh air.

The next day, during our follow-up interview, I repeat this observation to her. She nods, and takes a beat to think about it. “I feel like there’s so much tension in the world right now that sports is what people turn to to forget about it,” she says. “To have that little bit of escape for a couple of hours while the game is on and get some laughs and root for your team, it brings people together and you can have that camaraderie. It’s like a little fantasy world distraction. Obviously, does it really matter who wins? It doesn’t. But there’s so much crap going on in the world that it’s nice to be able to tune out for even a couple hours and just focus on something different, something more lighthearted.”

In these uncertain times, maybe a little fantasy world distraction is what we need. spt

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One Year Later…

After a fire ripped through a building on 6th and Pacific, the businesses that survived try and move on

by Leonard Trubia

26 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

Fire is worshipped. Fire is cursed. It has both the ability to walk on water and emerge from the earth’s crust. You needn’t an address to find it. Just a sense of smell.

Unfortunately, once you smell it you may be too late.

Ironically, as I sat down to write this follow-up story about the blaze that burned businesses on the corner of 6th Street and Pacific Avenue almost one year ago to the day, yet another downtown business burns. Early Friday morning on November 11, 2016, Ron’s Jewelers on 469 West 6th St. caught fire resulting in $41,000 in damages. The fire is currently under investigation and the charred smell is still in the air, but the details of this fire will have to wait for another story.

On November 2, 2015, a massive fire devastated a 1920s building that housed several downtown businesses, including CrossFit WorldPort, Renzwear, Playground Fitness and several live-in occupants. The incident required more than a dozen fire trucks and resulted in one fire captain and one business owner being taken to the hospital. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. However, there were several disgruntled tenants who now have litigation pending against the property owner, Eric Eisenberg.

According to a report by the Daily Breeze days after the fire, the epicenter of the blaze was the L-shaped attic space that spanned the businesses in the building. Tenants reportedly complained to Eisenberg and his commercial real estate entity, The Renaissance Group, about a particular smell coming from the newest tenant’s unit. According to neighbors, the aforementioned tenant ran a business with blocked out windows, an alley entrance and no signage, that rented equipment used by cannabis growers.

Sometimes things like this just go away, but the smell coming from the new tenant’s unit didn’t. It apparently smelled more like Amsterdam than an equipment rental house.

So while official tenant complaints were made to the landlord about the odor that penetrated neighboring walls, these complaints did nothing to alleviate the problem and the building ultimately burned.

Rennie Nunez, owner of Renzwear Screen Printing/T-Shirt Printing, Embroidery and Crochet was devastated when he arrived on the scene.

“I received a text image of CrossFit WorldPort on fire and drove straight there,” he recalls. One of the things that most distressed Nunez is that he knew the chief and was friends with most of the members of the dispatched LAFD. “I grew up with them,” he says.

They initially told Nunez that he could go back in the building to collect any intact belongings after they removed the remains of the roof, but then was prohibited from doing so. Nunez, a tenant of 20 years, was justifiably upset that he wasn’t allowed inside the scorched and soaked building to salvage his life’s work featured in numerous animations, including the iconic show The Thundercats. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to assign value if it is not expertly documented before and after this nature of damage. Navigating insurance compensation is a science most people hope they never have to learn.

March 2016: workers tear down the remains of the building on the corner of 6th and Pacific (photo: Joshua Stecker)

Along with the emotional loss came a veil of optimism. The fire fueled Renzwear’s move to a newer building just down the block on the corner of Centre and 7th St. While Eisenberg stated at the time that he would offer temporary space for his tenants in other buildings, Nunez opted for the generous offerings that came from the ILWU. “The ILWU Local 13 opened up their arms when they saw a family in distress.” Nunez was floored.

“My family is living proof that this town has the biggest heart, and I’ve lived all over.”

Nunez and his wife Veronica are currently thrilled with their new location at 680 S. Centre Street. “We’re happy here,” Veronica says. “However, we’re not happy about all of the artwork that was lost.” The data and business contacts lost in the fire are an obvious setback to any business owner, but the couple has taken that energy to their new location and the business is flourishing.

Jamie Burton of Playground Fitness unfortunately lost her business the day of the fire.

“I think I’m the only one who hasn’t reopened,” she says. Burton has taken the loss as motivation to move in a new direction. She’s moved towards private training focused on holistic health and is currently certified in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Tapping for both people and pets. All in all, she is feeling positive about the outcome.

At the time of the fire, CrossFit WorldPort owner Parker Robbins was on a cruise in the Bahamas when he got the news that his gym had burnt down. After receiving the news, he immediately flew home to meet with the insurance adjuster. Fortunately for Robbins, he was savvy enough to buy an insurance policy that would position the gym in a safe place in the event of a catastrophe of this nature. “It took two months before we saw a check, but we were able to start over.”

Robbins found a 5,000 square foot space at 1205 S. Gaffey Street and hasn’t looked back since. “I just decided to go with it and give it everything we had.” A local friend, Lauryn Maes, started a GoFundMe campaign on Robbins’ behalf and raised $5,000 in two days, which provided him with the money needed for the down payment on the new space.

Together with the generosity from the higher-ups at CrossFit who waived his affiliation fee for 2016, Robbins says, “the community rallied for us and the gym came out on top.”

He has since doubled his membership at the new location and is hoping for continued growth.

What will come of the downtown business district with the increasing vacancy is unknown. Eric Eisenberg and his Renaissance Group, who hold the keys to much of the property in the downtown area, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story. Fortunately for San Pedro, the marrow that defines this town is the strength and unity of the people in this community. We have this to be thankful for. spt

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For Love of the Game

A community rallies to make one man’s baseball dream come true

by Shelley Smith, special to San Pedro Today

28 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I DECEMBER 2016

This is a story of joy. Pure joy. And pure love from a community for a man some barely know, some who know him well, some who don’t know him at all. It’s a story of faith and love and a respect for a journey, only to have it unexpectedly crowned by something spectacular. It all started with a GoFundMe.com page.

Typically, they are borne out of something sad, something needy. Lauryn Maes, though, said just because it’s always been that way, why does it have to stay the same? Why can’t it be for something happy, something deliriously happy, that fulfills someone’s dream, checks off an item on a bucket list, turns something from impossible to possible. Why wait until there is sadness? Why wait until it’s too late?

That’s what Lauryn did, despite her step-father Rich D’Anna’s protests. If you’ve ever met Lauryn, who is a voracious fundraiser and supporter of numerous charities, you know she’s fierce. No is not an answer.

“I am asking our friends to rally for something else I hold dear to my heart… My Richie… and his Cubbies,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.

D’Anna, 48, born and raised in Chicago, had no choice but to become a Cubs fan, because of his grandmother, who was a Cubs fan, and his father. You ever see him around San Pedro? He’s got a Cubs hat on. Always. He’s also a longshoreman and beloved little league baseball coach.

“He’s the kind of guy everybody wants to know,” says good friend Mike Ghekiere. “The kind of guy who everybody wants to be around.”

Rich and his wife, Laura, as they did last year, took a chance on the Cubs going deep into the playoffs and booked an Airbnb in Chicago. Last year, the Cubs were swept by the Mets, but this year they watched the Dodgers series with keen interest in a Dodger-crazed city, and gloriously, to the D’Annas, the Cubs won and they were all on their way to the World Series. The family would go too, just to soak up the atmosphere, walk the streets of Wrigley and revel in a scene that would eventually rival no other.

“To feel the electricity of the city,” Rich wrote on Facebook. “To stand alongside of what I consider the most incredible place on earth to watch the game of baseball.”

For Rich, that would be enough.

But it wasn’t enough for Lauryn, who organized the GoFundMe page, ignoring her parents’ pleas to take it down, determined to raise enough for at least one ticket.

What nobody counted on was the outpouring of support from people all over the South

356 W. 7th Street, San Pedro | www.sirensjavahouse.com

Matthew and Rich D’Anna with their 2016 World Series Game 4 ticket stubs (photo: John Mattera)

Bay – people who wanted to help his daughter help her father achieve a dream. More than 150 people donated, mainly in $20 and $25 increments, and made their feelings known.

“I believe in good things… and this is good,” wrote Michelle Libeu-Babich.

“I don’t know you but I know what it’s like to love baseball and be the fan of a team who hasn’t done very well for most of my life,” wrote Mike Leonardo.

“If anyone deserves to be the recipient of something good, it’s you, my friend… have a blast,” wrote Darlene Edens.

Rich and Laura read the posts on the site every night, in tears, never knowing how much people cared. “Laura said it was like my eulogy,” recalls Rich. “Just such a barrage of emotions directed to me. So overwhelming.”

On the flight to Chicago, with their two sons, 13-year-old twins Anthony and Matthew, Rich promptly took over the flight attendant’s microphone and led the galley singing, “Go Cubs Go.” They flew with true faith that whatever happened would be enough.

They really didn’t know what would come next.

By the time they landed, the fund reached $8,025, raised in just 13 days. The D’Annas contacted a ticket broker and agreed to the $8,800 price for two tickets to Game 4 at Wrigley Field. It was a tough decision because they hadn’t actually received the GoFundMe money yet, so they had to come up with the cash on their own. They did and Laura walked into a bar where the ticket broker was set up – even though it wasn’t open yet, she insisted she needed to get in, and did – and came out with the tickets in hand.

“It was like the angels singing, harps playing,” recalls Rich. “My heart skipped a beat.”

The D’Annas had extra room in the house they rented and invited the Ghekiere family to join them, who went along to pick up the tickets. “Rich just stood there looking at them, tearing up,” remembers Shana Ghekiere. “He was very quiet, just staring at them. He was overjoyed. That’s the moment I’ll remember most.”

Then Rich had to decide which twin to take. “It was really kind of easy. Matthew’s nuts like me,” he says, “And Anthony’s a theatre kid, so Matthew went to the game and Anthony went to go see Hamilton with the Ghekieres.”

The day of the game, Oct. 29, Rich and Matthew carefully donned their favorite Cubs gear and took an extensive walk around Wrigley. Both had been there before and done the same things, taken the same pictures, but this felt different. This was the World Series.

As they walked through the turnstiles when the gates opened at 4:30 p.m., Rich broke down sobbing. Then he and Matthew bought beef sandwiches … a Wrigley staple … and snuck into seats 15 rows from the field and ate as they watched batting practice, finally making their way up to their seats in section 514.

Even though the Cubs lost to the Indians 7-2, the D’Annas didn’t lose their spirit. They walked outside the stadium and began to rally the fans. Soon after, he started posting Facebook Live videos so the people back home, those who had sacrificed for him, could experience what he was experiencing. “Good or bad,” he said. For 45 minutes he yelled and screamed and started a chant of “Cubs in seven!” and it was infectious. He was getting texts by the minute from people imploring him not to quit.

“We want to see it all, too. Good and bad.”

They stayed in Chicago to watch the series move back to Cleveland, a Game 6 win for the Cubbies. Knowing they wanted to be in Chicago on the chance the Cubs actually won the series, they changed their airline flights twice to stay around Wrigley to catch Game 7.

“It was an experience of a lifetime,” says Rich, breaking down again. “Something I never thought possible.” spt

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

This Too Shall Pass

by Lori Garrett There is nothing more heartbreaking than being on the path of progress only to face a new obstacle, perhaps one that seems insurmountable. Have you been there?

I’ve had a recent setback myself. Just when I was finding some success with treating my Crohn’s disease (and other related autoimmune symptoms), I discovered that I’ve now developed something called histamine intolerance. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s a complicated answer, but let’s just say that my body is unable to properly manage histamine, leaving excess histamine in my system. While I still have work to do to figure out all the root causes, it explains many of the mysterious symptoms I’d been experiencing lately, like headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, hives, and edema. In my case, it is largely triggered by consuming high histamine foods, and sure enough, most of the foods I was eating to heal my Crohn’s (which were part of an already restricted diet) fall on the “high histamine” list.

One of the critical ways to properly treat it is to omit more foods from my diet than I already do (at least, for the time being), leaving me with very few options and making daily life far more challenging than it already is. Cutting out more foods? Are you kidding me?

I’d made so much progress. I thought maybe a “normal” life was finally waiting for me on the horizon. But when I looked at the very short list of foods I could now tolerate, I felt deflated. After all the work I’ve done, having to cut out even more foods was crushing, and it felt almost impossible. I felt like giving up altogether.

But then I realized I had two choices: I could expend my energy on sulking, complaining, and feeling sorry for myself, or I could channel my energy to make change and pursue solutions. This illness may be my opposition, but I won’t allow it to be my enemy. Instead, I will learn to better understand it, figure out what I can do differently, and work to change the end results.

I bet there are a lot of people feeling like they’re facing obstacles or disappointments right now. Whether illness-related or not, here are some things I like to try to keep in mind when facing a setback that feels insurmountable: 1. Progress Takes Time – There are times when we might be making great progress, and for a moment, we have hope that things have finally become better for good. But that’s not how it usually works. Progress takes time, and it’s not unusual to face setbacks along the way. Take those setbacks as the opportunity to learn and grow.

You may have to “re-strategize,” but you will find strength you may not have known was there.

2. Allow Your Opposition to Make You Better – Sometimes I get bitter, and I just want to exclaim, “It’s not fair!” And it’s not. Life’s not fair. But there is something to be gained from every experience, even the unpleasant ones. Channel your frustration into making positive changes. And if your struggles consequently allow you to become more compassionate, empathetic, or understanding towards others, then you’ve already greatly benefited from your experiences.

3. It May Only Be Temporary – We’ve all heard the Bible passage (and song): “to every thing there is a season.” Everything in life is temporary, even life itself. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t. And just as there is no such thing as endless happiness, there is no such thing as endless pain. Embrace the ebb and flow of life, and utilize times of trouble to prepare for (and appreciate) the next phase.

And when all else fails and the weight of my troubles just seem too unbearable, I always choose to remember: this too shall pass. spt Follow Lori Garrett on her healthy lifestyle blog: www.adventuresofasickchick.com.

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