From a horrific negative came a constant positive
As I read the paper today on April 8, I am reminded of that exact
event, the mauling of the Keens' child 23 years ago. We had just
moved into our new home, and a very thoughtful neighbor came up to
introduce herself and, seeing our year-old boy, informed us of the
recent event right across the street from us. That caring woman made
us aware of the dangers in the hillside communities. I had never
lived in such an environment.
We have always been vigilant of children playing outside. We have
a big lot and there are coyotes just behind our house; I see them
quite often. There are rattlers among the garden bushes and by the
pool, and let's not forget the bobcats -- two this past winter --
especially when food and water are in short supply. There are black
widow spiders everywhere -- yet my kids never had anything happen due
to never having been unsupervised while outside, even as they grew
older. They are now almost 24 and 19, and they have known what to
look for while outdoors for a long time. They will teach their own
children.
We also have two outdoor cats, 10 and 5 years old. Know when to
let them out, or if you are not sure, just keep them indoors.
It is about education and responsibility. We can't go around
killing every animal that comes around and scares us. We can't be so
lazy as to expect every little thing to be taken care of for us. We
must act with the responsibility that comes with adulthood and
parenthood. We must learn from unfortunate events such as the Keens'
tragedy by learning to be careful, knowing your surroundings, not
going hiking when you know mountain lions are out there. Wait them
out -- they'll go back to their home ground, in due time.
I now see a new family living in that same house across the
street, and they have three beautiful little kids. They are always
supervised while outside.
To the Keen family, I wish to say that from your horrific
experience, we learned to keep our eyes on our children at all times.
It's a small comfort, but it might have saved us a similar situation.
We live in Glendale, and it has always been like this. We enjoy
the beautiful deer (even though they can decimate a garden in two
minutes flat), the rabbits, the birds, the quail families running
around our yard. So we all must learn to take the bad with the good.
We are part of nature, not its ruler.
NINA GARCIA
Glendale
But would it be a catch-and-release program?
Thank you, Glendale City Council, for carefully considering how to
