A heartfelt thank you
As I watched the “2016 Big Ball” drop in New York on New Year’s Eve a vision of life in Seal Beach appeared to me. The vision included the events of 2015 and then the personal vision of the 2016 year of the future.
The year 2015 brought happiness and sadness into view. It is wonderful to live in Seal Beach and that is always a happy scene to see. This vision brought to mind the happiness most of us feel when we see the love that is expressed by the people and organizations that work to keep Seal Beach a great place to live. This was expressed in the activities of the Seal Beach Centennial Committee and other volunteer organizations that made it a great event. The people of Seal Beach shared their love for Seal Beach, and parking places, with visitors from different worlds who were made to feel welcome.
On a personal level the passing away of my wife, Barbara, after her long illness brought sadness into our family. At the same time, however, it brought to mind the happiness that came into our house when the friends, members of volunteer organizations and neighbors shared their love with us during this sad time. The phone calls, letters, cards, emails and visits showed the love of the community and gave our family spirit a heavenly lift. We all accept the fact that we will go to the Lord’s house someday and the value of human support in all of our lives is vital in good times and bad. Your support of the family and me adds a happy note to this sad part of my 2015.
Now 2016 is a new year and we all have the opportunity to bring happiness and love into the lives of our friends and neighbors. I’m happy to live here in Seal Beach with you. God Bless You.
HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Tom Blackman
Seal Beach
A thankful family
I wanted to ask if there was a way you could help me say thank you to the City of Seal Beach employees and the Police Department for helping my family and I with donations that were collected? It was Dr. Jerry Gargus who is the principal of McGaugh Elementary to pick a family to receive it. He picked my family because he had heard we were going through some tough times.
There has been a lot of medical issues going on with me and as of November, my husband. To explain briefly, I was diagnosed with (AML) leukemia in 1987 at 15 years old. This past April I was referred to see an oncologist because for the previous six months my blood levels showed it was consistently dropping. My oncologist said I needed to get a bone marrow biopsy done because he was thinking I had relapsed from my leukemia or had a entirely new type of cancer that was related to my chemotherapy treatments.
Those test results showed no sign of either type of cancer at that time. We still need to watch for it because it could be we caught it too early to detect it. At the same time my blood count came back low and there were other blood levels that showed high levels of calcium and parathyroid hormone.
This was because of a benign tumor on the parathyroid gland. I had to have surgery to remove it. I have had pancreatitis four times and kidney stones three times where two of the stones had to be removed by surgery.
When I had leukemia I was only given a 20 percent chance of surviving, but only if I had a bone marrow transplant. I was supposed to get one, but I ended up getting a fungal infection on most of my organs but the liver and brain had it the most. This was a fetal infection and now I couldn’t get a bone marrow transplant, nor could I continue my chemotherapy treatments. I was the only person at that time to have been alive when it was discovered.
I had three open liver surgeries and was not expected to live. Both of these diseases in my case had a very high probability I wouldn’t live through it. I am not sure how or why I survived, but I did.
My husband and I have known each other since I was 11 years old and I moved in with him when I was nineteen. We eventually married in June 1990.
When my husband was 10 years old he was shot in the head with a bow an arrow and had to learn how to walk, talk and do the everyday things we all do after he had his surgery. We both have an understanding of one another and we believe our relationship was meant to be. As time went on we realized we wouldn’t be able to have kids due to my chemotherapy treatments. There were many years that went by without me getting pregnant so we accepted it.
In November 2004, my first son was born and we couldn’t believe it had happened. We never thought it would happen again, but it did with my second son in 2009. I have been blessed with many miracles but I still wonder why so many bad things keep happening with my health. Both of my boys have ADHD and can be very tiring especially my younger son who is 6 years old. He could not talk until he was 4-and-a-half years old and had developed behavior issues. McGaugh Elementary school has been very good to my kids and helpful. The office even has my younger son Jack-Jack’s picture hanging on the wall.
I am not sure how much the principal knows about my health but I know my kids’ teachers have been aware of it.
As of right now I am still anemic and have a mass that can be felt in my abdomen but I still need a CT scan to tell my oncologist what the mass is and where exactly. I am still waiting for answers to be discovered because I have lost about a 120 pounds in a very short period of time along with pain.
I am explaining all of this so you can understand what I have been going through which can be difficult at times especially when raising my two sons.
My husband’s health has been good for the most part, but about six weeks ago he had a second stroke. He is fine now but needs to take medication to stop it from happening again.
This is why I believe Dr. Gargus (the principal at McGaugh) picked me and my family to accept the holiday donation. My older son was given a scholarship for junior lifeguards in the summer of 2016 and we were given $700 dollars. I want everyone involved to know how thankful we are for what they all did and the Sun Newspaper is the only thing that could help me with it.
Tami Henrickson
Seal Beach
Thanks to The Sun
On behalf of the Rossmoor Woman’s Club, thank you for once again selling tickets for our annual Holiday Home Tour at your office in Seal Beach – and also for publicizing the event in The Sun in the weeks and months leading up to the Dec. 6 event date. We really appreciate your help.
Thank you for partnering with us and supporting our fund raising efforts. With your help, we are able to honor students at Los Alamitos High School – with college scholarships for graduation seniors and recognition for students of the month. We buy backpacks and school supplies every fall for children of military families at the Los Al Joint Forces Training Base, and we buy holiday gifts for several families at the JFTB that we “adopt” at Christmas. We also purchase items needed by veterans at the Long Beach VA Medical Center and donate to numerous local charities such as Interval House and Pathways to Independence and local cultural organizations such as St. Isidore Historical Plaza and the Los Alamitos Museum. We do all these things with your help!
Thank you once again, and happy holidays to you and your staff.
Beverly Rigney,
President, RWC
Pat Aldridge, RWC Fundraising Chair
Bench decoration is meaningful
As a longtime resident of Seal Beach, one of the things I come to appreciate most about our community is how we memorialize those that we’ve loved and lost. The new Support in Love memorial to those lost at the Salon Meritage in 2011 is a great example. Less obvious, but with no less meaning and importance, are the small plaques on various park benches in Seal Beach that family members dedicate to memorialize a lost loved one. One such memorial is to a dear friend lost many years ago, and a longtime resident of Seal Beach, Daniel Archuleta. Dan was killed on-duty as a Kern County sheriff. His family dedicated a bench to Dan as a way of celebrating his life in the town he was born in, went to school in and spent most of his life in.
Dan was born on Dec. 25th, and so his family tastefully and beautifully decorates the bench in blue garland to celebrate his years and passion in law enforcement. For the last few years, it has saddened his family to see that someone, hopefully someone who reads the Sun newspaper, takes the decorations down and probably throws them away. One can only imagine the sadness that it brings them to see that happen year after year. My hope is that whoever has been taking the decorations off of Dan’s memorial bench will reconsider next Christmas now that he/she understands the meaning behind the decorations, and the wonderful father, son, brother and friend they are put up to celebrate.
Kevin Kropf
Seal Beach
Newspaper unites
I know I sent a Letter to the Editor thanking my CPE neighbors and those in surrounding communities who stepped up to the plate in major ways to help the victims of the fire on Rose Street. I greatly appreciated you printing the letter for me. I’ve received many notes, calls, emails and comments from people who read the letter and also appreciated the thank you.
However, I inadvertently forgot to thank the Sun for the interest in printing the information and the updates on the fire. I’ve learned from this experience that your paper is a source to many on local news stories. It’s fabulous in this day and age of the printed word losing out to the Internet! But you don’t need my editorial on that subject! At the same time or along the same lines, thank you for printing information pertaining to neighborhood activities held by the CPENA (i.e. snow day in Heather Park, etc). It’s often difficult spreading the word to those in the neighborhood even with the help of next-door.com and signs. Your paper fills the gap nicely!
So to close out this year and in anticipation of 2016 rapidly approaching, thank you on behalf of all of those in the area who benefit from your reporting and connecting the local neighborhoods. Please share this sentiment and let them know that your “little paper” is eagerly read with the advent of each issue. Many, many thanks! Keep up the excellent work!
Stephani Meyers
College Park East
Christmas entertainment
St. Hedwig’s Christmas celebration was magnificent.
The huge hall was colorfully decorated. The school children’s lovely placemat arts enhanced the guests’ tables.
I deeply appreciate LW Woman’s Club, which also sponsors St. Hedwig.
A great number of Leisure Worlders were among the enthusiastic group celebrating,socializing and dancing with (impostor) Elvis Presley’s live music. The festive atmosphere dominated.
Young people and adult volunteers pleasantly served the nutritious, delicious turkey and ham with all the trimmings.
Amazingly, everyone enjoyed the surprise Christmas gifts. The beauty of giving and receiving was overwhelmingly manifested throughout the Yuletide Season.
Lisa A. Dickson
Leisure World
No letters in LW paper
If anyone would like to learn about the Seal Beach 55+ Community, they can pick up a copy of the Golden Rain THE NEWS at various stores or go online to: www.lwsb.com
Please read the published minutes of the November 24, 2015 Board of Directors Members Meeting under the President’s comments. Here is one comment: “Just a note, a few shareholders are writing letters to the other local newspaper, the ‘Sun’ of their displeasure with the management decisions made by your ‘OBD’ as they feel they cannot get their letters published in our own Golden Rain News.” Then in the second to the last sentence it states: “The Sun Newspaper does not check facts and/or the accuracy of those letters so please contact your GRF Director to clarify any information contained therein.” Is there such a thing as a “OBD” in the 55+ Community? Anyway!
How about using the printed documents from the Administration offices in the 55+ Community? Are they accurate enough?
Carol Franz
Seal Beach
The opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of the Sun. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters sent to the Sun are understood to be intended for publication. E-mail letters to: editor@sunnews.org.
