On La Mesa

An Easter Story

LA MESA -- On the same day more than a decade ago when I moved into a Mt. Helix home, my new next door neighbors brought their new twin boys home from the hospital.

They were small and I was busy and for the first few years of their lives, we lived like respectful neighbors; smiling and waving from a distance as the infants grew.

As they got older, however, and could toddle their way across the driveway, we became friends. Alec and Liam Hudson were soon circling my home on tricycles and, on the occasional Sunday, stopping in for a breakfast we've come to call "the bacon explosion.'' (Don't ask. Nutritionists would not approve.)

Though over time my role in their lives had become more of "the crazy uncle next door,'' I was honored to be asked to sponsor the boys' baptism into the Catholic Church.

On Saturday evening, as cars blaring music raced by along El Cajon Boulevard, Alec, Liam, their family and friends and their new church community, gathered in the cool evening with candles in hand.

For two-and-a-half hours, they all marked the coming of Easter and celebrated the spiritual transition of young lives. Good words and hopes were spoken. Hugs were exchanged.

It occurred to me watching these growing young men that the arc of their lives is at the heart of what La Mesa best offers the world: a safe place to grow and share. These are our real Jewels of the Hills.

"On La Mesa" is an occasional column written by Chris Lavin, Editor of LaMesaToday.com, and other LaMesaToday.com members. Submissions can be filed to OurTown@LaMesaToday.com.