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Speak Out
We don't need more people in the Valley
Yesterday I went to the Willow Glen post office to mail a parcel and met a gentleman out front with a clip board who said, "Sign here to create 21,000 new jobs in our city."
Sensing Cisco Systems, I said: "No way." On the way out, I saw a second gentleman with a clip board. He had a sheet for signing up voters to create a referendum for putting the Cisco request on the ballot. I signed, and told him that I had lived here since 1923 and the one thing we did not need here was more people!
I noticed a few other people signing for Cisco. They have short memories. They evidently do not remember the misery of water rationing. Although it happened such a short time ago, they have forgotten about the power blackouts.
I find it difficult to believe that they have not noticed the highway gridlock and the airport gridlock. Sad. This used to be such a beautiful valley. And now it's wall-to-wall people. And there are still those clamoring for more. It's beyond comprehension.
Robert L. Smith
San Jose
Being mammogram duo has incredible benefits for friends
Today my friend Guyonna and I drove the 50 minutes to South San Francisco from San Jose to have our yearly mammograms. We've been going there together for several years and doing this potentially gruesome task as a twosome is fabulous.
With my concern and sense of responsibility for my friend's well being, I won't cancel. Neither would Guyonna, who just returned last night from being away for six days in Arkansas. Her desk at work is calling loudly to her but she wouldn't consider letting me down.
We rendezvoused and cheerfully talked nonstop until we arrived--the 50-minute ride truly felt like 10 minutes! The usual pre-mammogram fear that others tell me about is absent, completely dissolved in our pleasure at having time together. We're good friends who are so busy and active as to almost never see each other and this is a guarantee of at least a once-per-year visit.
Besides the wonderful opportunity for talk, there is the support of a dear friend as we wait for the mammo-technologist to say that the doctor is satisfied with the film and--yippee--we can get dressed to leave. Were it necessary to repeat the film, which has happened, we each have a friend to support, sustain and distract us during the worry period.
Most screening mammograms are negative and gratefully, we have not had a positive reading. But were this the outcome, I know, without any doubt, that we'd see it through together.
When we are dressed once again, a crucial topic must be discussed: where will we eat lunch? I don't 'do lunch' very often and this lunch is fun! It is almost celebratory. We both feel good for each other and ourselves that we are healthy, at least so far as the mammogram can tell.
And we are delighted to have this time together.
Having a mammo-partner has incredible benefits, none of which we realized when we started our unusual alliance. Our partnership provides healthy distraction, support, renewal, connection and assurance of a yearly mammogram that includes laughter and sharing. Instead of dreading the exam, we both anticipate the fun of having time together!
Dorothy Dorsay
Saratoga
There's no excuse not to donate blood
The holidays are a time to give, especially to those less fortunate than ourselves.
As a volunteer blood platelet donor/ recruiter with the Stanford Medical School Blood Center, I would like to let people know that there is one other commodity that is especially important to give at this time of year--the precious gift of blood.
Donating blood during the holiday season is the most gratifying thing one can do when it comes to helping someone else.
Healthy people have no excuse not to donate because Stanford makes blood donation easy and convenient by having lots of mobile drives and a facility in Mountain View (515 South Drive, Suite 20, behind El Camino Hospital). Their appointment phone number is 888.723.7831.
After you've made an appointment to donate, check out the blood center's website, http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu, which has lots of good information.
June Cooley
Almaden Road
Single parent enjoys warmth of community
I really enjoy reading Willow Glen's community newspaper. I myself am a resident of Willow Glen. I've been living in Willow Glen for two years now. I love it here. It feels like you actually belong to a community.
My son attends Willow Glen Elementary (that's a great school!) That is why I'm writing to you. I think the Willow Glen community loves and appreciates so much the fact that every morning when you drop off your child at Willow Glen Elementary the principal, vice principal or a volunteer parent open the door for your child everyday and welcomes them to school. They thank you as if we are doing them a favor by bringing our kids to school. It's really great--I have never seen this done by any school.
You feel good when you leave your child at school and you can go to work with a clear conscience. I'm a single parent so any kind of support we can makes a great deal of difference. My child even feels the warmth at the school. He is a 10 and attends the 4th grade. It's his first year at Willow Glen. He also attends day care on the site.
Yvette Ramirez
Spencer Avenue
Clarification
An article in the Dec. 6 issue of The Willow Glen Resident reported the incorrect date of a Willow Glen Business and Professional Association raffle to raise money for decorating Lincoln Avenue. The raffle will take place on Dec. 20. Tickets are available by calling 408.266.1371.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
