Dear Los Angeles,
I know that you have lots of good things going for you. You’re the City of Angels. You have beaches and ports and famous people everywhere. We have those things too. We have them without the smog.
You have very few rainy days where we have a very prominent rainy season.
You have Chinatown. We have Calle Ocho.
You have Venice Beach. We have South Beach.
You have restaurants that are known for the fabulous food. So do we.
You have the hills. We have the everglades.
You have The Lakers and we have The Miami Heat.
I remember reading somewhere that the city of Los Angeles moves one-quarter of an inch to the east every year. If that’s true, then even you are trying to come to the East Coast.
We have a lot in common and yet we are so very different.
I think that the very worst thing about you is that, even with your gradual move east, you’re over 2700 miles away from Miami Beach
This is the worst thing, in my opinion, because my little buddy Sebastian and his mom are leaving Florida and moving to Los Angeles. I know that I should be happy for them. They’re moving to a new place and getting a new start, but I’m not happy because I’m selfish. I am selfish and I don’t want them to go.
Even if I don’t see them often, I like knowing that they are here. Miami is better with them here. I am better with them here. He’s the kid that makes you want to be better. A better teacher, a better person, a better anything and everything, because he is better.
He’s the kid who is so inspirational that thousands of people from all over the world have fallen in love with him. They send cards when he’s in the hospital and still email me daily asking for updates.
The kid who reminds you to “just be nice”. The kid who has faced more in his seven years on Earth than most of us would or even could face in a hundred years…a thousand years. The kid who relishes the things he can do and gives little thought to the things he can’t . The kid who deserves the world, but would never think of asking for it.
His mother is no less inspirational. She made Sebastian.
She gave birth to him and taught him right from wrong. On the many days, especially when he was younger, that her life would have been made easier by simply doing things for him she chose not to. Instead of coddling him she blessed him with a sense of independence and pride. She is the reason he has overcome so much. She is the reason he will continue to overcome the many obstacles that he will face.
Los Angeles, you are about to become better. We are sending you two of the best that we have. Take them in. Welcome them. I mean, there doesn’t have to be a ticker tape parade or a presentation where you give them a key to the city or anything like that. Although, that would be really cool if you could arrange it. Just don’t let them fall between the cracks. Don’t disappoint them. Don’t let them become like so many others who have moved there in search of a better life only to be heartbroken.
You are lucky, Los Angeles. You are lucky and I pray that you prove worthy.
If you live in the Los Angeles area or know someone who does, please feel free to share this post. Maybe you'll see them and can welcome them to the west coast. If you do happen to see Sebastian and his mom when they are out and about in LA tell them Ms. Brown says hi and that Miami misses them.
