California Here We Come looks at the contemporary golden state and its power to draw people from all over the United States and the world looking to dream big or simply make a better life.
My dad immigrated from Germany to Nashville in 1960. He met my mom there and they spent several years in Tennessee and Alabama. By 1968 my dad was a newly recovered alcoholic and needed someplace to make a fresh start. He decided on California.
He arrived at the bus station in downtown Los Angeles, walked several miles upSunset Boulevard and checked-in to the low rent St. Moritz hotel in Hollywood. He found a job, got his footing, and the following year returned to the South to get my mother, brother and me. He rented us a house in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, which happened to be near where the Manson Family had just murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. As they had yet to be apprehended, it was a scary first year for my mother those evenings when my dad was away.
I was three years old when we arrived in LA. I consider this place my true home. Modern California has its share of problems and challenges to be sure, but in many ways its progressive streak sets a tone that influences the nation and the world. I’m drawn to the natural beauty of the mountains, the deserts, the ocean. I love this big city and LA’s multi-cultural landscape. Whatever your interests or lifestyle, it’s possible to find a place and like-minded people here.
The decision to put down roots in a place as vast and diverse as California may have to do with freedom, a job, climate, fortune, health, fame, or even needing a fresh start like my dad. The details of the stories may be very different, but the search for home is something that connects us all.