If I could take anything from my mom, it would be her pathological optimism—the optimism of a single woman with a kid, a cat, and a German shepherd who pulled herself off of welfare by selling insurance on a bus. Later getting all the initials after her name her paper cards could hold.
About two and a half years ago I moved in with her and gave up my small, junky, beach-adjacent, rent-controlled apartment. But being “over the hill” in Los Angeles two blocks from the ocean just might be why they came up with the saying “location, location, location.” I am slightly embarrassed how many nights I cried myself to sleep in this really nice condo that my mom worked hard to buy, and as far as accommodations go, it is a vast upgrade.
