Once Upon a Time

03 Friday Feb 2023

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Grandpa’s Silly Speech

I stand before you to sit behind you to tell you something I know nothing about.

There will be a Mother’s Day meeting for fathers only at the round table with four corners.

Admission free.

Pay at the door.

Seats reserved.

Sit on the floor.

It went on …

Memory compilation from Judy, Mimi, Becky and Laurie—previously known as the Walker girls

Why I’m an Editor, Not a Teacher

25 Saturday Sep 2021

Posted by in Keri Losavio

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When I went to college, my double major, English and French, qualified me for one job, according to my guidance counselors: teaching.

But I didn’t want to teach. The education classes I took were populated with students I wouldn’t have wanted teaching my (hypothetical) kids! To be a good teacher, you have to have patience and meet kids where they are.

Still, I needed to work, and a family friend who was a school principal offered me a substitute teaching job. That’s what proved I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher.

Somewhere, a former snotty blonde may remember me as the B**** who told her that just because she was 18 didn’t make her an adult. Making good choices and taking responsibility for her life would be a good start.

She had told me that being 18 made her an adult and gave her the right to make her own choices about what to do. I remember telling her she had one thing right: It was her choice if she wanted to graduate. And reading Glamour and painting her fingernails in English class wasn’t the way to go about reaching that goal.

After that, I found my first job as a proofreader.

Thank you, Larry, for giving me a chance. You taught me to take a chance and do what I wanted to do, not what I was expected to do.

20 Years Ago

11 Saturday Sep 2021

Posted by in 9/11

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As John and I watched TV 20 years ago, seeing the already burning WTC North Tower, I looked at John in horror and said, “We’re at war. We’ve just been attacked.”

He was sure it was an accident, having seen small planes crash into the Empire State Building.

“Maybe,” I said, hoping he was right. “No sane pilot would fly into a building when they could ditch in the river.”

Then we saw a plane fly into the South Tower of the WTC.

2,977 people were immediately killed in the attacks.

Of those who died during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the Towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were New York City police officers, 37 were officers at the Port Authority and 8 were responding EMS personnel, including FDNY paramedics CARLOS LILLO and RICARDO QUINN.

I went to work at first, before being sent home. Then I spent weeks talking to people so I could help tell the stories of the EMS providers who died and the emergency response to the attack.

Cecilia Lillo and Virginia Quinn, you are in my thoughts today.

For a brief moment on 9/11, the world stood with the U.S. in horror. Instead of taking that moment to forge lasting alliances, we went to war. The horror of planes deliberately crashing into the WTC, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa., in the morning was followed by the further horror of bombs and guns in Afghanistan that very night.

I wish the children of those killed in the attacks had been able to grow up with their parents to love and support them.

I wish we had not left a generation of Afghan and Iraqi children orphans in the wake of this tragedy.

The lesson of this tragedy? An eye for an eye leads to a sightless world. 20 years later, the living memory is fading into history.

Hannah Elizabeth Sims

28 Sunday Mar 2021

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September 18, 1966–March 20, 2021

Hannah Elizabeth Sims, age 54, passed away on Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Nayarit, Mexico, due to a sudden-onset, catastrophic illness.

Born Sept. 18, 1966, in San Jose, Calif., to Charles Arthur Sims and Shirley Sims (nee Small), Hannah started life as the youngest of five children. A long-time resident of, and family law attorney in, Berkeley, Calif., Hannah was known as a tenacious and passionate advocate for women (especially those in abusive situations), people with mental illness and the homeless.

“Hannah lived far more than most ever will,” said her husband, James Larkins. “She had compassion, a contagious smile, devastating wit, boundless heart and charm. She was a good friend. We are blessed by her memory, spirit and values.”

Hannah graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science, before earning her juris doctorate at the College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, Williamsburg, Va.

Described by family members as “a force of nature,” Hannah had no time for liars, fakes or time-wasters. But “she was the most radiant and generous person most of us will ever know,” said Mr. Larkins.

Hannah is survived by her husband, James Larkins; children (with Robert Bush) Emmet Bush and Charles Bush; step-children Tyler Larkins and Madelyn Larkins; father Charles A. Sims; step-mother Nancy Adams; mother Shirley (Sims) Hall; siblings, Mark Sims, Murray Sims, Heather Sims and Matthew Sims; and a large extended family.

A Zoom memorial will be held April 11, and an in-person memorial will be announced and held once possible.

In lieu of flowers, her family requests that contributions be made in Hannah’s name to Narika, a nonprofit organization that promotes women’s independence, economic empowerment and well-being by helping domestic violence survivors with advocacy, support and education (Narika.org).

Fun in Seattle

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in Family, Travel

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Last week, I visited my sister for the first time since she moved up to Washington last fall. We had fun playing tourist: Stepped off the plane and drove through downtown Seattle. We went to the Museum of Pop Culture, with exhibits on music, TV (e.g., Star Trek, Dr. Who, Lost in Space), fantasy, horror, science fiction … The entrance is right next to the Space Needle, which is undergoing some construction. Appropriate, given that the Needle featured prominently in Defiance, an excellent example of science fiction TV that was sadly ignored in the museum (at least I saw no wax figures of Grant Bowler or ephemera from the series).

We took the ferry to Whidbey Island, where we went wine and whisky tasting, walked on the beach and saw bald eagles and white (yes, white, not albino) deer. We also had a delicious dinner at a hidden gem of a restaurant that only locals would ever be able to find unless you knew it was there: Roaming Radish. We drove on dirt roads to find the place, and the only sign—low to the ground near the turn—was facing the opposite direction from how we were coming. When I asked for the cheese burger without the meat, the chef came out to the table and offered to make me an off-the-menu tofu burger instead. I’ve never had tofu seasoned to such perfection!

I also saw friends (great to see you, Carri and Chris! And so glad to finally meet Mars!) and celebrated my nephew’s 17th birthday.

All in drizzle or pouring rain … Had a blast!

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