I’m not a big believer in resolutions but, for me, this is the year when a definite line must be drawn between the old and the new.

In 2008, I lost someone I love, my business (and with it my identity in my community), and my sweet little cat, all within a span of three months.

I spent the better part of the summer and fall in a very dark place. I’ve turned a corner and I’m feeling much better now, hopeful and engaged and grateful, if still a little fragile.

The time has come for this blog to be retired. Those of you who know your Andrew Marvell will understand.

I’ll be posting here going forward:

www.walkinginthisworld.wordpress.com  

Wishing a very happy, productive and hopeful New Year to all.

The truth is, I’m not much of a football fan nor did I go to USC. But I do have a deep and abiding affection for Trojan football and, in recent years, a bit of a crush on Coach Pete Carroll. What a lovely man he is!

I suppose you could say that I owe my very existence to USC. My parents met there in the mid-1950s, in Spanish class, and I think it’s safe to say their paths wouldn’t have crossed otherwise. My mother, a Jewish girl from Chicago, was at the pricey school because her parents could afford it (and because Northwestern University rejected her, having already filled their quota of Jews, but that’s another story). My father, a native of Los Angeles and a gentile, came from much more humble circumstances. He was fresh out of the service and attending USC under the G.I. Bill.

I also have USC to thank for many of my most pleasant childhood memories. The Trojans ruled college football in the 1970s, after all, which made my season ticket-holding parents very, very happy.

My father remained a passionate USC football fan until the very end. My last happy, coherent memory of him is the two of us sitting together, on what would turn out to be his last birthday, watching a USC game on TV. It was December 2003  and he was excited that the Trojans would likely be returning to the Rose Bowl after an absence of several years.

The Trojans did in fact make it to the 2004 Rose Bowl but my father died on Christmas Eve and didn’t get to see them play.

Tomorrow, as always, I will root for his team. USC– Fight On!

…and not a cloud in sight.

Rose Parade Bleachers, East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena

Reflecting the beautiful lobby of Pasadena City Hall.