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Blog archive

November 2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Why I joined Pasadena Village

By Christina Folz
Posted: 06/05/2022
Tags:

Why I joined Pasadena Village

 

By Chris Folz

 

 

I recall a conversation that I had with my dad many years ago. I think it was during the Bush Administration. He commented on how a friend of his had told him that he, the friend, was only interested in taking care of his family, no one else. In that post-911 era it was not an uncommon sentiment and seems to have been the seeds of many the political and cultural issues that we are seeing today. Dad’s response to that comment was, “When did we stop caring for each other?”. I often recall those words when I think about what a kind and insightful man he is. He has always cared for others, be it my sister and I, his late wife or his amazing mother. It almost was inevitable that he would become one of the charter members of Pasadena Village.

 

When Dad first shared with me what Pasadena Village was going to be all about, I had visions of him leaping into his car like Superman, racing off to drive someone to a doctor’s appointment or help someone set up their computer. And, yes, he does his fair share of that. But what I also saw was that Dad had found like-minded people who are still interested in caring for others. Many of those people I also knew and very much respected through my involvement in All Saints Church. The Village was more than a mutual aid group, it was a community and Dad had found a wonderful “posse” of really great friends. I envied his trips to museums, hikes and social gatherings with his new-found gang. It wasn’t a question of if I was going to join Pasadena Village, it was just a question of when.

 

So, through a strange turn of circumstances that began last July, I now find myself not working and able to start a new chapter in life. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I also believe that caring extends far beyond one’s family and well into the community at large. I look forward to participating in some of the Affinity groups and volunteering. Even more, I look forward to spending time with an amazing group of people who are like my dad, giving of all they are, to others.  

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