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Los Angeles has transformed dramatically since I first arrived in 1976. What was once a city of dreams and opportunity now fills me with a profound sadness as I witness the unrest downtown and growing challenges that make even visiting familiar places feel unsafe.

My thoughts turn to my grandmother Gittel Bernstein, who arrived from Poland in 1920 and spent twenty years in America before becoming a citizen. Throughout those decades, despite her non-citizen status, she built a remarkable life – starting with a simple pushcart selling dry goods, progressing to a market stand, and eventually opening her own store across from the kosher chicken market where I would watch, fascinated, as rabbis performed ritual slaughter. In today's America, would she have been deported back to Poland to face the horrors of Auschwitz? This thought haunts me as I consider how our approach to immigration has evolved.

The homelessness crisis that prompted me to launch a podcast several years ago remains largely unresolved despite endless discussions. As I approach my 78th birthday, I find myself seeking refuge in Turner Classic Movies – escaping into films from the 1920s through the 1950s, before cinema took turns I never quite embraced in the 1960s. These old movies comfort me when reality becomes too harsh. Despite my concerns, I remain grateful for meaningful relationships, especially with my husband Ed, and continue to believe in fighting for an America where everyone has the opportunity to contribute and belong. Because if nobody told you they love you today, I love you – simply because you're you. Fight on, because you're worth it.

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