Lessons from a brutal day

JAMES PRIBRAM

The ghost of the past continues to keep us sharp and on our toes.

There is an eerie feeling every time smoke fills the air here in

Laguna Beach as it did again Tuesday.

It’s been 10 years since the brutal, devastating fire of ’93 and

it still feels like it was yesterday. It will probably always feel

like yesterday to those who lost their homes. That day will be etched

in my mind for more than forever.

One minute, I was at the beach and the next helping people save

their homes. People I had never met and people who I hadn’t spoken

with in almost 10 years. Sometimes, like yesterday, I wonder if those

same people still live here.

The memory reminds me that you don’t have to know someone to be

polite, helpful, sincere and neighborly to each other. It should not

be devastation that brings our community and neighbors together,

rather it should be an everyday occurrence. Every day because we are

so lucky to live here in our town, Laguna beach. A place we should

take great pride in.

We have seen the effects of fire, flooding and random acts of

violence. It should be the good days that bring us together and the

bad ones even closer.

If you had one day to live what would you do? Give a homeless

person something warm to wear? Give a boy selling candy bars on the

corner a dollar? Say hello to a stranger? Drive a little slower down

your street? Maybe watch the sunset? Tell someone you love them?

Life’s beautiful here. Let’s enjoy it.

Peace.

* JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach resident, professional surfer

and co-founder of “They Will Surf Again,” a nonprofit foundation

assisting people with spinal cord injuries. He was also a member of

the Water Quality Advisory Committee. He can be reached at

jamo@alohaschool ofsurfing.com.