Memories and tears for Palisades

It has been ages since I last wrote an article here. I have promised to come back again and again but had not built up enough courage to muster an entry.

- MARICEL LAXAPANGILINAN

Some questions in my head that I have had to battle with are: Do I still have what it takes to satisfy the interest of the current readers? Are my kids going to be all right with what I have to share? Do I have the time? The list will go on and on and then another day, month and a year passes by without churning out an article worthy of the approval of the Lifestyle editor (Tita Millet). And yet here I am after a call from her that sort of jolted me out of my seat and, yes, my comfort zone.

My editor called me while in the middle of our company presentation and when I couldn’t answer, she left a message that has me here back on my computer with a definite deadline to finish this article.

After having been on a two-week break from posting anything on my Instagram feed, I finally shared a photo of my Pali(sades) High Cross Country Team.

My heart has been broken from all the news about the fires in Los Angeles, and specifically the Pacific Palisades area, where I spent all my teen years.

Tita Millet said I should write about this and share it with you, our dear readers. I told her it has been hard for me as thoughts of the fire always bring me to tears... so I write this on bended knees and in between tears.

How does one begin to pick up the pieces from having lost everything? How does one recover? I have been just on the receiving end of the news and I am torn to pieces with the thought of people losing everything.