A Community Celebration

The Queen Anne Block Club!

Last Thursday we had our regularly scheduled Queen Anne Block Club meeting (we call it Neighborhood Watch usually but technically, we don't do patrols or run down criminals so...). We'd canceled our meeting in February because that was the week that L.A. was being terrorized by that ex-cop who was going after police officers and their families. I'd talked to our Senior Lead Officer, LAPD Officer Ruben, several times that week and we'd decided that cancelling our meeting was best because he couldn't be out without a partner and there wasn't anyone available to attend the meeting with him. Also? The police were a wee bit busy protecting each other, themselves and oh yeah, the city. So we took a break.

Our Senior Lead Officer and his Captain

It was during those conversations that Ruben told me he's getting married in March. I congratulated him and he promised he wouldn't miss our meeting. He's been engaged for a while now so this was no surprise. However, I immediately began plotting a surprise. I know I've written about my neighbors before and this harkens back to that. One thing Angela and I have thought about most when we've considered moving (and if you know our trials at Abbey Place, you know how often that is) is that we'll miss our community. We've been a part of this neighborhood watch group since day one. We know the people who come from blocks away and we only catch up once a month or once every other month. But we do catch up. We can stop and say hello at the grocery store and we can wave when we pass each other on the street. I love that. It reminds me of home.

So our surprise? A little party for Ruben's upcoming wedding, a celebration of him and the work he's done for our community. We invited his Captain and sent some emails and gathered some help from willing group members and voila! instant party!

Three layer butter cake with chocolate frosting!

We went over the usual information Thursday night. We discussed the burglaries and car thefts. We talked about the new Ross going in down the street. We talked about how the city's working to help the homeless on our street corners. Then, we had cake. We took group pictures. We passed around hugs. We laughed and chatted and just had a good night. We all stayed late and no one seemed to mind. Why? Because we're a community. And we like each other. I love that.