Once in a Lifetime

Downtown Los Angeles

Wow. Wowie, wow, wow, wow, wow. I will remember today forever. One of our contributors who won a helicopter ridealong with LAPD Air Support at our last fundraiser donated the ride back to us, so my board president let me take it and I brought along my brother, Josh. It was an incredible opportunity and not one that general public often gets to experience, so it was truly thrilling. For two and a half hours we flew all around Los Angeles, from downtown, to the beach, to the far reaches of the valley. We searched for a possible kidnapper in a Mercedes on Beverly Glen, flew right next to the Hollywood sign, and orbited around an apartment complex where a gunman was hiding out. Incredible! There was a report of 50-60 nude bicyclists riding around the city. Oh, how I wanted to take a gander at that, but we were too far away. At one point we flew directly over my old apartment in Studio City and when we flew back that way, I heard a call come out on the radio for police to head to 4245 Tujunga - my exact old address! Weird coincidence. We felt like little kids, so excited to be hovering above the city on the hunt for criminals. Afterwards we went to my favorite taco hole, King Taco, in East L.A.

Los Angeles National Cemetery (largest military cemetery outside of Arlington National)

Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica

Hollywood sign

My old Tujunga Ave. apartment (white and blue building far left with palm tree)

The Jackson Family compound (we looked for Blanket, but didn't see him...)

The best part? I got to spend some of the best time I've had with my brother in years. We got to talk so openly and honestly with one another and shared a lot of things. Josh was a really talented baseball player. He was scouted by UC Davis for their team when he was in college, but when he went up there he suffered an injury that took him out of it. So, I asked him about his passions these days and he said something that took me by surprise. "I consider myself an artist now." What? I had no idea! He was always a jock. It was so cool to discover a new side of him and get to know him better. I had no clue that he paints! And he's a writer, too! That's three of us now. And all of my siblings are artists. One of my favorite things to either photograph or paint are trees. Trees were my main inspiration in decorating the condo. Well, here's one of Josh's first paintings:

I didn't know we had some of the same sensibilities. I love that. I love feeling more connected to him. He told me he wanted to spend more time together. I can't even tell you how full my heart is right now. I love my brother so much. So, like I said, I won't forget today. I am grateful beyond words.....