Give thanks with a grateful heart

House decorations seem to flourish at Halloween and Christmas. But Thanksgiving is typically a simpler theme, with maybe a few pumpkins and a garland of fall leaves.

So it was fun to see this house with its message to "Give Thanks," with the Pilgrims (and their turkeys) ready to welcome their guests to their table.

A safe and happy Thanksgiving tomorrow to all!

Humans of Downey - Leslie and Andrew

"One of my favorite moments I look back on is my first baseball game with my dad when I was seven. I had perfect attendance at school so I won tickets to a game. So I went with my father and it's one of my favorite memories that I look back on a lot. I don't remember all the specifics of the game, who was playing or what happened in the game but I remember being with my dad.

"When I found out that my mom was going to have another child, Andrew my brother, it has guided me to decide what I wanted to major in in college. I'm in my second year of college and I decided I wanted to major in Child Development. It was a struggle at first. I was trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do and I realized what I wanted was to work with children. I feel that when Andrew was born there has been more excitement in my life, there have been more happy moments, and I really like that."
~ Leslie

Humans of Downey - Margaret

"Sometimes we transport patients from one hospital to another hospital. I love it when I get an elderly patient that's feeling miserable but all they want is to see a dance or for me to sing to them. That's all. And that is really funny because you can have a terrible voice but in the back of that ambulance you sing to them or do a little jig, they become the happiest people I've ever seen. That's all they want. It's very simple. And that's funny, how the simple things of life can put a smile on someone's face. And that makes my day."
~ Margaret

Shorter days

It seems like overnight, the trees in Downey have begun to change color. This stand of trees lines the center island of Paramount Blvd.  I don't know how long I have driven past them as they were starting to change colors, but all of a sudden I noticed it this week—an explosion of color.

The shorter days and longer, colder nights of the fall season contribute to the leaves changing colors.

"Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree." 
~ Emily Bronte, Fall leaves, fall

Abandonment issues

Rogue grocery carts—we see them loose in our neighborhoods. February is “National Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket” month. I know it's not February yet, but hopefully, this cart won't have to wait until then to get returned to its rightful owner.

“National Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket” month is not quite a holiday. It’s more of an awareness-raising event, created by a frustrated grocer. Anthony Dinolfo launched the event back in 1969, the year that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon . (“I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a shopping cart in one of the craters,” Dinolfo once told an interviewer.)

Dispelling the darkness

The news is full of senseless tragedies these days. The number of deaths in Paris a week ago are truly appalling. But sometimes the magnitude of the numbers make us forget that each number boils down to the loss of a single life. Whether it is one or 130, each death represents a single family in grief.

Such is the death this week of Downey Police Department Officer Ricky Galvez, 29 years old, who was shot and killed Wednesday night in a botched robbery attempt. His family, friends, coworkers, and many others gathered together Thursday afternoon and evening to share their grief. Many brought flowers. And many stayed for a candelight ceremony after darkness fell.

"Yes, Beauty will overcome. This too we know intuitively and so we bring flowers to express that longing, to cover the evil stain, to visually remind ourselves and others that Good remains alive. All will be made right … in time."
"Instinctively we seek the light and its warmth. Darkness-piercing candles remind us there is hope. In lighting them our souls are pleading for the Light of Heaven to dispel the darkness. Both now and forever."
~ Barbara Rainey

Humans of Downey - Lindsay

"We met here in Los Angeles when I was visiting my friend. I'm from New York and I was here during New Years of 2004-05. We dated cross-country for a while, then I moved out here later that year. My friend took me to a gathering at the Bonaventure Hotel where my future husband and his friends were also gathering. In the beginning of the relationship, our time together was with the group. Our first alone date was when he came to New York city to visit me. We had a great time taking in the sites of New York City.

"I work at Pioneer Medical Group, which is located next to the Downey Hospital (PIH) in the blue building. I'm a physician's assistant specializing in rheumatology. I was trained in New Jersey at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey located on a Rutgers campus. Physician's assistants are very prevalent on the East Coast. When I came here 10 years ago, it was not very common to have physician's assistants in a doctor's practice. But, since it is such a cost-effective method to provide health care, they are utilizing more physician's assistants and nurse practitioners here."
~Lindsay

Humans of Downey - Christopher

"When I was in high school, Mrs. Lopez, my geometry teacher, was like a second mom to me. She gave me extra attention and tutored me after school. She was always telling me to keep on the right track. So I took her words and applied them to her class. This gave me confidence and knowledge to accomplish the assignments of her class. So much so that I did very well in her class. It was such a help that I did well in other classes also.

"Because of this, I went out for the track team. I loved to run so I ran on the 400-yard relay team. It was a happy time of my life. Now I'm a student at Long Beach City College working toward a degree in business/fashion."
~ Christopher