Family Ties

This is my great-aunt Alice, one of the relatives I saw on my brief L.A. visit last weekend. She's 93 or 94 (I can't remember) and still lives on her own in Burbank. The first time I met her in my adult life, five years ago, she drove from her house all the way to her daughter's place in L.A. On those crazy freeways.
She worked for the L.A. Times for a long time, which we talked about a little bit at our lunch Saturday.
I hadn't given much thought to this side of my mom's family (the McNichols/Dorans) before I connected with them in January 2001. I knew most of the family lived in southern California, and that I had met them before I was old enough to remember it.
My grandma, Alice's sister, died 10 years ago today. Jan. 26, 1996. Rita Brinkman was like a second mom to me. I never lived more than five miles away from her my entire life. She hated tomatoes, but didn't mind day old coffee. She watched Meet the Press, Face the Nation and the McLaughlin Group. She thought Ronald Reagan was a bad actor, and an even worse president.
All of this must have rubbed off on me.
She was all about family and togetherness, and I think she would have been really pleased about the relationships I've forged with our California family.
I know I am.

Wednesday: Ran 60 minutes on a treadmill
Thursday: 60-90 power walk