The Los Angeles Mission should be proud of itself today. They did a spectacular job making the people of Skid Row enjoy the holiday. they went to extra lengths to make people smile and be happy.
How, you may ask? Well, everybody serves food. Everybody has a band and they had that as well today. How many of these gatherings have a tent where everyone can have a foot massage and a pedicure.
I do not know of that ever happening. I have not seen it. However, I am new to Skid Row. Perhaps it is a tradition. If not, they need to make it a tradition. T hat shows sensitivity to the needs of the public. Everybody is on their feet on Skid Row. Everyone walks alot or stands around alot.
Feet become tired. It takes one hell of a commitment for someone to clean and sooth the smelly feet that they come across on Skid Row. My hat is off to them for that extra effort.
I tried to find the email address.of Herb Smith, the CEO of the Los Angeles Mission to tell him. I have been wanting to speak to him about another matter. First of all, I wanted to thank him for providing moral support . I did receive his nice comment to me. I meant to say hello to him at the Towncrier awards, featuring Don Garza and Jan Perry but he left before I could say hello. (wow, I think I liked the way I said that. Maybe I could be the man who covers the Downtown FUN beat. It would be more my style. However, there is a job to do. now. I must crawl before I walk. Lets hope my feet hold up . )
Secondly, his staff at the Community Clinic were very helpful. They were clearly overworked and I waited a long time but I did not mind. They were sincere and dedicated. I will have to wait to see them again because I have time constraints but I can tell you I was glad I went there.
Do you know that I was not aware of their community clinic until a month ago? No one told me and everyone knows I needed certain services. That is my point about Skid Row. Where is the clearing house for realiable information? When Garza returns, we will attempt to put something together. Congradulations again
to the Los Angeles Mission.
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I was hurt ing before I wrote that segment. I was at Chrysalis when it closed. 4 days of down time. I did not want to go to the Central Branch of the public Library. I wanted a new experience. Like I said, the more you experience, the more experience you get.
I remembered reading about the Little Tokyo Branch of the Los Angeles p ublic library. I decided to find it. I did. I walked in it and I was stunned. It is beautiful. It is the most calming, beautiufl branch library I have ever been in. It has 30 computers and virtually all of them are empty. I was in paradise.
As you all know I have a love for Japanese culture and I think Little Tokyo is one of the most beautiful parts of Downtown. I would love to find work there--anything while I try to develop other things. I was trying to locate a Japanese language school. I walked right into the Japanese language learning materials aisle. flooded with materials.
Please visit it and also watch this video of Japanese American history. Lets learn about each other.
I am glad I decided to walk and have a new experience. Sometimes, it g ets tough trying to believe good things can happen to me. I recognize that it is not only from this past year but I must have picked up on my mom's attitude over all of those years while she picked up on my positiveness. Anyway, I fought for her to be positive and I found out at the end, when we were becoming the best of friends ,while I was training ,that the best medicine for her was her son getting off drugs.
My mother said "you matured right in front of my eyes." Yew, I know you heard it before. You have not heard this. "Walter, you saved my life". I decided to share that with you right now. I feel very grateful.
I wrote for myself for years. The first time someone wanted to read my writing was around Thanksgiving in jail last year. They were tired of reading novels. They saw me right day in and day out, non stop.
They wondered what I wrote about. They read something and wanted to read more. My mother was the same way. Interesting really. And yes those quotes. I feel like sharing .
Why, I do not know. I feel open right now. I feel something. You see, whoever is reading my writings are my family, so to speak. You do not realize how much it means to me that someone actually reads what I have to say. That they actu ally tolerate me.(smile)
You see, you are my family, you readers out there. You are my strength. You have no idea what you do for me in these difficult times. You give me a voice where I did not have one before. I thirst to know what everyone thinks about lots of things. That is the only disadvantage to this. I cant talk to people and listen to them. but you listen to me and you tolerate my emotional swings. It is not all that interesting to hear someone talk about th e trials and tribulations of living life, for the first ti me in years, without drugs or cigarett es. And I am doing so without my family, and I thought that would never happen to me.
So when I share with you those two quotes that my mother told me, I am sharing with you the two most
precious quotes in my life. I worked so hard to here those quotes. They are sacred. It is what being a son is all about. Those quotes say it all. I would say something but I am t alking about my mother and she hates profanity. Hates it. So I woon't use it while I am t alking about her.
But yes, you readings make me b elieve that maybe, as I heal myself, I can talk about int erest ing things. I have done interesting things. My friends always wanted me to share with them the things I have done. I hope to share things about my past some more. More importantly I want to share , as I am doing, th ings as I live them.
I t ried to put the video of japanese american history on this blog. I do not know if I will be successful.
My mother wants people to love eachother and learn about each other. IT was sacred to her that people not fight and have wars. She signed for many japanese to get them out of the authority camps. Dam, I hope I get this video going.
So yes, it was a long painful day. I fought through it. I missed some people today along with my family.
One of the people is Jose Egurbide. He called while I was typing this. I missed Garza as well. He called.
I will post an interview Garza did with Egurbide if I can as well.
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Before I finish, I must mention something. My last blog was my 100th blog. I am glad I did the
Missing Person informati on blog segment on my 100th blog. I did something good. My moth er would have wanted it like that. I am glad I reported The Mission Festival. I have learned alot in those 100 blogs I have not
I am learning as I go so please tolerate me. thank you.
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