the streets and infrastructure, 100% design development for all the parks and open spaces, includes shoreline drawings, geotechnical reports, and a whole bunch more things. it was a very large and comprehensive package that summarizes the whole project. that is an overview to give you a sense of what is coming. in terms -- shifting gears for public realm and safety, i know we talked a little bit about how they were questions about how the intersections work, or what were the innovative strategies that were incorporated into the design of the public realm. i want to walk through some of what those strategies are that we are including. as you know we are all very proud the treasure island -- we have prioritized pedestrian movement on the island and safety. it is a very flat place. there is no reason that everybody and anybody should be able to get a look around easily and safely.

we designed a vast pedestrian network for places where people can walk safely along streets and walk around the entire island uninterrupted from cars, their different ranges for people help -- for how people get around. there are different pedestrian prioritized pathways throughout the island. the bicycle network is also extensive and a wide range of dedicated cycle track facilities to bike lanes on streets, to completely protected bike lanes that leave all the way around the island. and the vehicular network, people will drive on the island. we have thoughtfully been considering how that will happen looking at the intersection design in particular, also the maximum speed limit of the island is 25 miles per hour. keeping low speeds also encourage safety. the transit hub is very important to the project where the ferry comes in.

we also have bold bus lines and munimobile coming into one place and then the shuttles service that goes out to both sides of the neighbourhood. in the application, we will see we have developed detailed plans for the intersections to show how they work. and one of the traffic calming measures we have incorporated is in some of the intersections where there are not stop signs, we have included tabled intersections to slow the traffic down in important places where pedestrians might be crossing like the east side comments, his people want to move through from block to block of the parkway. there are rays traffic tables at these locations. this is one example at the east side commons where pedestrians are moving where the blue lines are showing and we have raised the traffic table up. essentially to not only slow cars down down because of the vertical difference, but also holding out the sidewalk of the

zone so it pinches down the roadway and causes vehicles to slow down. this is some example of what table intersections look like. you are probably familiar with them. we have also incorporated special paving into a number of intersections as well. so you can say -- see this as an intersection at california avenue right at the east side commons entry point. this intersection is signalized so it is not tabled. but we do have designs to incorporate special paving within the intersection. it signals to cars that there's a lot going on here. this is a special place in a lot of different movement. slow down and be cautious of everything around you. we have also incorporated special paving at the midblock crossing at the retail street. is a place where we imagine people might be wanting to move back and forth to get from one retail feature that is on one side and they are on the other.

we incorporated that along the retail street and as a reminder, this is what it looks like. we also think it was a benefit to that and it gives you an enhanced public realm experience here is a couple of examples of what special paving looks like in these intersections and other places. we also incorporate truncated domes. in many places on the island, if you're not familiar with them, this is an image of what they are -- what they are. they are typically where you are about to cross the street. it indicates a somebody that is blind with vision detection that essentially they are about to enter a dangerous own. it indicates to somebody that has a visual impairment to the bright yellow colour is something they can detect and tells him it is a place they can cross and it is safe. we incorporated these at all of the intersections and then in some places like the pathway between building two and three, we have incorporated them within a parking lot which is not typical necessary -- necessarily

instead of trying to hide them and mask them, we are celebrating them and embracing this is a public safety feature that we want to celebrate and incorporate that into the design and the pavement markings. build outs are another element within the streetscape plan that we incorporated. you can see all the dogs here that indicates all the different bulb outs around the phase. there are many, many bulb outs. you can see in this example, it is incorporated. essentially, we pulled back the parking from a certain distance from the intersection that allows us to push out the sidewalk and make a shorter crossing distance for the pedestrians. since, the pedestrians don't have to walk as far, and it goes down the roadway so cars slow down at those moments. and then in terms of the

intersection, will talk a little about about what what we are incorporating. >> thank you. >> there are a couple of slides here about the technological treatments we are doing to account for the high levels of pedestrian, bicycle and other modes on the island. specifically at the signalized intersection and stage two and three california avenue and avenue d. we do have the typical pedestrian push buttons. a pretty standard technology used at intersections for those that need the audible signal to cross the street. we are also calling for a content pedestrian signal had to give the pedestrian the amount of time left for them to cross so they can safely do so without being stuck in the middle of the street. as well as does not and stage two and three, but a previous stage there was a rectangular beacon that was on the right.

in the bike realm, there is quite a few bike interfaces with motorized vehicles, buses and et cetera. we are being consistent with the livable streets type improvements that san francisco is putting elsewhere. what is shown here is a quick snapshot of a bikeway design guide that gives a very detailed explanation of the different features and elements that cities -- and the north american city transportation officials, it is a combination of what cities are doing, and putting in their streets for safety, access and circulation. this is specifically a bikeway element. we also have, because of the differing bike facilities crossing the intersection at the signal, we will have some bite signal heads which is shown in

the picture on the bottom, which is typically what would give the bike facility a green bike, yellow bike, read bike and motorized vehicles would have a combination of the green, yellow and red balls and areas to indicate who has the right of way. some other additional elements that are getting incorporated into the design our transit signal preemption -- preemption technology. it is infrastructure in the signal and is compatible with the actual vehicle fleet. the media vehicle seat see transit vehicles and other vehicles that would communicate between the signal system and the vehicle to make them no proximity to one another so the phasing of the intersection can be changed based on a variety of factors. you still have to program this and determine. it is pretty typical for major metropolitan cities to have busy corridors. we will be working with the city family to figure out the best way to program that.

>> the general topic will have a red light while the bus has a couple seconds or some ability to get to the front of the line so they are not sitting behind the last car waiting at the signals. there is also emergency vehicle preemption technology which is compatible with the s.f. fire department vehicle fleet, as well as other emergency vehicle responders. that is also infrastructure that is connected to the signal and the controller itself as well as a vehicle. they contribute with one another this sequence of the signal can change when it is activated and moving to the site. >> onto the other intersection

design, i think highlighting is a little bit easier to see. we do have one signalized intersection within this phase of the project. it is at california avenue and avenue d. the one we were looking at that leads into the east side comments. most of the other intersections are in stock -- stop controlled with stop signs. then again there are those that aren't. we essentially, in most cases have traffic tables, and in many instances, we have special paving in those intersections. and then i think we looked at this one before, but as jeff was mentioning, especially for a signalized intersection, we looked really closely at the different phasing for that. looking at separate phases from pedestrians, and vehicles, it is something we will be working closely with the m.t.a. to determine in both the eastbound and the westbound conditions, especially for the bikes. we have many accessible parking spaces.

and then 25 on street loading zones which is something that has not been a typical san francisco city standard. transportation modes have been changing, so we work closely with the d.p.w. director to incorporate these. and lastly, within the parks and open spaces, we have made sure to incorporate accessible seating within all the parks. it is an example of how we design a picnic table to make sure it is wheelchair accessible companion seating and all of our parks and basis. someone in a wheelchair can sit right next to somebody who is not. we have separated them throughout the island as an example a clipper cove or we have done that. we have done the same separation at the east side comments. we have separated bikes from the shuttle and shuttle stops. and it is an example of how we are separating bikes. this is -- to end on this note, everywhere and treasure island

is accessible. there are some of the places you will see in the subject application that include the building two plaza, the east side comments, clipper cove, the east side neighbourhood park, the dog park, in the storm water gardens, is it. >> thank you so much. i would ask if there is any public here, but there doesn't seem to be. i would like to ask if you could forward as your actual paper stuff. we couldn't really see what you are doing. >> maybe bob can speak to how that gets distributed. >> when the sub phase applications come in, we will get a copy of the booklet to each of the members. it is 11 by 17 booklets. the appendices, as pam mentioned include substantial progress drawings and design development

drawings for the parks and those will be included as a c.d. if we print them out, there were several inches of drawings. i don't think the board members probably want those. but i will get you a copy -- a copy of the application. >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you for the comprehensive -- i know you have been working on these for quite some time. you are becoming -- you have been coming to all these committees and giving difference iterations. i know we had asked you for some specific improvements or some suggestions, and you are looking at january 11th, and so if we didn't have commissioner dunlop, if we had had to review that,

specifically we would go to some of the things -- at issue here has to do with the public rent. i know we spoke at length regarding disabled intersections and i saw the signalized -- the way you present -- presented. i would check to see how we treated that compared to the old materials that you provided, again, it could help to clarify that at issue here we said treasure island -- more than anyplace in the region should be accessible. because you are planning everything you have done to make it accessible. but there is a special category. the disabled and the visually impaired.

i know in san francisco proper, we are not treating them -- you can look at this. it is a section in san francisco treasure island should be an improvement of that. for the public realm, that would be -- i have been asking that for some time. i would like to see how that is created. and the other thing is that you listen to all the presentations before. so right now, is there flexibility in the plan for increased faerie water transportation? there will be a terminal. later on we know that treasure island is a destination, and definitely one we had all the work programs and that, and messages throughout the world, people know we will have increased ridership and visitors and things like that. so in our plan, it would be great, even now, for you to help

us to think about that in the future. because when the infrastructure is built out, that is its. i would want to pose that question and for you to help us to answer, and lastly, january 11th, that is when you need to publish to all the agencies. how many agencies are you going to be reviewing? will there be a draft form? is that what you will be publishing in dragon -- january 11th? they have to go through all these agencies. >> it will go to all the city agencies on january 11th. you guys first. and then to us first and then we all work together with all the city agencies and essentially there is an opportunity and a comment .-period-paragraph essentially it is within 30 days that you have to get comments

back, and if there are any meetings, to discuss any problems or changes, we meet at that point in time and get a buy in from the city. >> and then you will come back here with whatever their comments for the final documentation class. >> i think bob can even clarify. but then we look for endorsement >> like i said, the goal here is to complete agency review reconciliation of comments and revisions within a 90 day window so by the middle of april, we are looking for approval. this is a direct for approval, but obviously, we'll be providing regular updates throughout january, march and april. >> thank you for your excellent work here and for your team. >> thanks. >> thank you.

>> item number 11 is discussion of future agenda items by directors. >> next item. >> adjourned. >> please, for the record, adjourned in the memory of our late great mayor, ed lee, may his soul continue to rest in peace. >> thank you all.

adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the xurpz drinking alongside we're having a lot of ingredient that get there's a lot to do the district of retail shop having that really close connection with the consumer allows us to

do exciting things we decided to come to treasure island because we saw it as an amazing opportunity can't be beat the views and real estate that great county starting to develop on treasure island like minded business owners with last week products and want to get on the ground floor a no-brainer for us when you you, you buying local goods made locally our supporting small business those are not created an, an sprinkle scale with all the machines and one person procreating them people are making them by hand as a result more interesting and can't get that of minor or anywhere else and san francisco a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant we'll make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood

of san francisco and a vibrant community >> wow, are the beetles here or are we just reoping the playground? i'm not sure which. thanks to the 2008 parks funds, where you're standing is the home and all of you san francisco voters gave a $20 million investment in this neighborhood. i was born and raised four blocks from where we stand today. i came and played in this park,

on the equipment, in the you know what i mean you know jim gym and structure today. >> to make this a park that everybody can enjoy, a diversity that would show the city that this is what san francisco is all about. >> what we got here is 3,000 new square feet of places for people to be healthy and be active and the community to gather. >> if you see /kaelly's mural in the building, there cannot be an imagery that's more related to this place. what people told us about what the importance of the windmills and the green houses and the flowers that used to be grown here and the wind, let's not forget the wind. >> we have to continue to invest in our city's infrastructure and creating new.

this is a recreation center for the 21st century and for the 21st century communities. >> we finally made something after somebody that everybody needs and this is the park. . >> a lot of water heater in san francisco look like this may be yours doesn't too do you know it is the post earthquake problems we'll show you to brace our water heater hi, everybody i'm patrick director of quarter safety for the city and county of san francisco welcome to another episode of stay safe today,

we'll talk about bracing water heaters water heater failure is a leading problem with earthquake fires you have a a single source you'll have in our home. >> how are you. >> so what are we looking here. >> this is a water heater 3 weighs from 200 to nine hundred pound during an earthquake that weight will try to move sideways we need to secure is. >> we'll brace the water heater our model home in south of market we'll use a simple kit interest the hardware stores from $20 it the the clean up itself single thing to do what necessary look like. >> this is what you'll find in our kit a inch and a half wide

strap to attach to the wall around the water heater and so you want to compare this in some garages around the city and state which is called plumbers tape innovate as strong and we need to brace the water heater if you find this you'll want to replace it with a streetscaping kit. >> we've put blocking so that way we streetscape the water heater a nice fit it is important and important probation officer mention you need to move our water heater to strap is it talk about to a license plumber they'll come out with a firm once we streetscape those obviously we want to follow the manufactures instructions. >> typically the instructions will require the strap one strap

be installed to fit the top third of the water heater and the bottom on the bottom 1/3rd away from the controls if it is above a certain size 50 gallons a third train e streetscape in the middle of the water heater. >> a lot of time i see older water heaters on the ground obviously explain why this is required and the mr. chairman is required if you pa a water are hereto in the garage gas fumes can accommodate and the pilot light will ignite the fumes so you want to above the grouped level. >> so why not go ahead and he get started with the bracing. >> we're joined with peter from construction he'll help us

>> there you have it for not a lot of 340e7b in a short time we were able to reduce the risks as you can see secure and even in a big rumble bell not going to

come losses thank you for watching we'll give is one more >> for the first time in nearly two decades fishers have been granted the legal right to sell fish directly to the package right off their boat -- to the public right off their boats in san francisco. it's not only helping local fishers to stay afloat but it's evoking the spirit of the wharf by resurfacing the traditional methods of selling fish. but how is it regulated? and what does it take for a boat to be transported into a floating fish market? find out as we hop on board on this episode of "what's next sf." (♪) we're here with the owner and the captain of the vessel pioneer. it's no coincidence that your boat is called the pioneer

because it's doing just that. it's the first boat in san francisco to sell fish directly from the boat. how did you establish your boat into such a floating fish market? >> well, you know, i always thought that it would be nice to be able to provide fresh fish to the locals because most of the fish markets, you would have to do a large amount of volume in order to bring in enough fish to cover the overhead. when you start selling to the public that volume is much less so it makes it hard to make enough money. so being able to do this is really -- it's a big positive thing i think for the entire community. >> a very positive thing. as a third-generation fisherman joe as his friends call him has been trawling the california waters for sustainably caught seafood since an early age. since obtaining a permit to sell fish directly to the public he is able to serve fish at an affordable price. >> right now we're just selling what a lot of the markets like, flat fish and rock fish and what

the public likes. so we have been working for many, many years and putting cameras in them. there's the ability to short fish and we have panels that we open and close so we target the different species of fish by adjusting the net. and then not only that but then the net sort out the sizes which is really important. >> joe brings in a lot of fish, around 20,000 pounds per fishing trip to be exact. >> we had one day one time that we sold almost 18,000 pounds. >> it's incredible. >> i know, it's hard to imagine. >> but this wasn't always the case for joe. >> the markets that we have left in california, they're few and far between, and they really are restrictive. they'll let you fish for a couple months and shut you down. a lot of times it's rough weather and if you can't make your delivery you will lose your rotation. that's why there's hardly any boats left in california because of the market challenges. my boat was often sitting over here at the dock for years and i couldn't do anything with it because we had no market.

the ability to go catch fish is fine, i had the permits, but you couldn't take them off your boat. >> that was until the port commission of san francisco rallied behind them and voted unanimously to approve a pilot program to allow the fish to be sold directly to consumers right off their boats. >> the purpose of the program is to allow commercial fishers to sell their fish directly from their boats to the end consumer in a safe and orderly manner for the benefit of the overall fishing community at the port of san francisco. we have limited the program to certain types of fish such as salmon, halibut, tuna and rock fish. crab is restricted from this program because we did not want to interfere with the existing crab sales on taylor street and jefferson street. so this is not meant to favor one aspect of the fishing industry more than another. it's to basically to lift up the whole industry together.

>> and if joe the program has been doing just that. >> it was almost breathtaking whenever i woke up one morning and i got my federal receiver, my first receivers license in the mail. and that gave me permission to actually take fish off my boat. once we started to be able to sell, it opened things up a bit. because now that we have that federal permit and i was able to ppetition the city council and getting permission from san francisco to actually use the dock and to sell fish here, it was a big turning point. because we really didn't think or know that we'd get such a positive response from the public. and so we're getting thousands of people coming down here buying fish every week and so that's pretty cool. they like the fish so much that they take pictures of it when they cook it and they send us all of these pictures and then they ask us, you know, constantly for certain types of fish now. and when they come down here the one thing that they say is that they're so amazed that the fish is so fresh they could eat a

little bit during the week and it's still fresh all week in the refrigerator. so that's really cool. >> the fish is very fresh and the price is super. i don't think that you can get it anywhere in the bay area. i can see it, and i can stir fry it, wow, you can do anything you want. i just can say this is a good place to shop and you have a good experience. >> this program supports the strategic plan in terms of engagement, people being connected to the waterfront, and also economic vitality. because it's helping the fishermen to make ends meet. they have no guarantees in their businesses, not like some people, and we want to do everything that we can to help them to have a good and thriving business. >> how does it feel to be able to sell your fish locally kind of in the traditional way, like your grandfather probably did? >> when i was a kid and i used

to work in my dad's fish market, a lot of the markets that we sell to now are second and third and fourth generation markets. so i remember as a kid putting their tags on the boxes of fish that we shipped out of monterey and ship down to l.a. so it's kind of cool that we're still dealing with the same families. and this is probably about the only way that anyone can really survive in california is to sell your own fish. >> one of the advantages of this program is the department people that pull in the fish, they can find out where they caught it and find out more about the fisherman and that adds to their experience. the feedback from the fishers has been very good and the feedback from the customers have very good. and there's a lot of people coming to the wharf now that might not have done so. in fact, there's people that go through the neighboring restaurants that are going to eat fish inside but before they go in they see the action on the dock and they want to kind of

look at what's happening on the boat before they go in and they have a meal. so it's generated some conversation down at the wharf and that's a good thing. >> as you can see by the line forming behind me getting ready to buy fish, the pilot program has been a huge success. for more information visit sfsport.com. (♪) (♪) . >> happy holidays, san francisco. hundreds of festive lights are illuminating san francisco streets using 100% greenhouse gas free hydroelectric power. this year, the city is celebrating 100 years of

providing this power from hetch hetchy system which powers muni, our schools and libraries, street lights, san francisco international airport, city government buildings, private developments, and more. look for holiday bell lights along third street, and illuminated snowflakes on market street. the san francisco public utilities commission and the san francisco public works welcome all to enjoy the magic of the >> this has been a dream in the making, especially for our

general manager, for many, many years, to be able to allow residents of the tenderloin and western addition to be able to walk and skate at civic center plaza and experience a little slice of an east coast winter. >> it truly was a one-of-a-kind collaboration between willie b. productions and the city departments. he said i want to challenge you to come up with something bigger and more fun, and something in such a historic location right here, right in front of city hall. this is amazing. >> we starting off by leveling the entire plaza. it was about a two-week process to get the area brought up to a dead level because the ice risk

itself is not tolerant of any change in slope, because the water would build up at one end. then, we brought in these refrigeration panels that we can circulate a brine solution in to bring the solution down to colder than 32°, and then, start spraying water on it, which, for the last two days, nature has taken care of that for us. and then freeze it, and it becomes ice that you can skate it. >> as you can see, the ice is about an inch thick, and it'll get up to 1.5 inches thick. with that, we can control the ice. most people that do outdoor skating rinks make a big sand box, and they lay these tubes in it, cover it with sand, and

then, the ice gets to be about 6 inches thick or 8 inches thick. well, with that thick, you're not going to control the surface. it gets wet with the sun. that makes it unique with our 1.5 inch thick ice, with the panels. >> this year, we're bringing a unique feature to san francisco. it's a skate track that runs down through the trees. it's over 400 feet of track. this is sort of models after -- modelled after the city hall in austria. you can make a narrow skating path and get that experience. >> what we are doing is working with the san francisco unified school district to bring any kids who go to school in the tenderloin to skate here for free. the operators have been wonderful in making that possible, and we have been --

we, the recreation and parks department, have been the people connecting schools to this ice rink. >> there has to be well over 100 people that have either been married or proposed to on the ice. in fact, they have this club that gets together once a year, and they go down to john's grill, and they celebrate and drink and eat and dine, sometimes before, sometimes after skating. they go to union square, and they relive those magical moments all once again. so who knows, with city hall being right here, we could see an increase in proposal and marriages on the ice. i don't know, but i've been on it. it's not just about you coming and getting on the ice, it's about you coming and skating successfully, skating safely, and creating those holiday magical

. >> happy holidays, san francisco. hundreds of festive lights are illuminating san francisco streets using 100% greenhouse gas free hydroelectric power. this year, the city is celebrating 100 years of providing this power from hetch hetchy system which powers muni, our schools and libraries, street lights, san francisco international airport, city government buildings, private developments, and more. look for holiday bell lights along third street, and illuminated snowflakes on market street. the san francisco public utilities commission and the san francisco public works welcome all to enjoy the magic of the

>> i view san francisco almost as a sibling or a parent or something. i just love the city. i love everything about it. when i'm away from it, i miss it like a person. i grew up in san francisco kind of all over the city. we had pretty much the run of the city 'cause we lived pretty close to polk street, and so we would -- in the summer, we'd

all all the way down to aquatic park, and we'd walk down to the library, to the kids' center. in those days, the city was safe and nobody worried about us running around. i went to high school in spring valley. it was over the hill from chinatown. it was kind of fun to experience being in a minority, which most white people don't get to experience that often. everything was just really within walking distance, so it make it really fun. when i was a teenager, we didn't have a lot of money. we could go to sam wong's and get super -- soup for $1. my parents came here and were drawn to the beatnik culture. they wanted to meet all of the writers who were so famous at

the time, but my mother had some serious mental illness issues, and i don't think my father were really aware of that, and those didn't really become evident until i was about five, i guess, and my marriage blew up, and my mother took me all over the world. most of those ad ventures ended up bad because they would end up hospitalized. when i was about six i guess, my mother took me to japan, and that was a very interesting trip where we went over with a boyfriend of hers, and he was working there. i remember the open sewers and gigantic frogs that lived in the sewers and things like that. mostly i remember the smells very intensely, but i loved japan. it was wonderful. toward the end. my mother had a breakdown, and that was the cycle. we would go somewhere, stay for a certain amount of months, a year, period of time, and she would inevitably have a

breakdown. we always came back to san francisco which i guess came me some sense of continuity and that was what kept me sort of stable. my mother hated to fly, so she would always make us take ships places, so on this particular occasion when i was, i think, 12, we were on this ship getting ready to go through the panama canal, and she had a breakdown on the ship. so she was put in the brig, and i was left to wander the ship until we got to fluorfluora few days later, where we had a distant -- florida a few days later, where we had a distant cousin who came and got us. i think i always knew i was a writer on some level, but i kind of stopped when i became a cop. i used to write short stories, and i thought someday i'm going to write a book about all these

ad ventures that my mother took me on. when i became a cop, i found i turned off parts of my brain. i found i had to learn to conform, which was not anything i'd really been taught but felt very safe to me. i think i was drawn to police work because after coming from such chaos, it seemed like a very organized, but stable environment. and even though things happening, it felt like putting order on chaos and that felt very safe to me. my girlfriend and i were sitting in ve 150d uvio's bar, and i looked out the window and i saw a police car, and there was a woman who looked like me driving the car. for a moment, i thought i was me. and i turned to my friend and i said, i think i'm supposed to do this. i saw myself driving in this car. as a child, we never thought of police work as a possibility for women because there weren't

any until the mid70's, so i had only even begun to notice there were women doing this job. when i saw here, it seemed like this is what i was meant to do. one of my bosses as ben johnson's had been a cop, and he -- i said, i have this weird idea that i should do this. he said, i think you'd be good. the department was forced to hire us, and because of all of the posters, and the big recruitment drive, we were under the impression that they were glad to have us, but in reality, most of the men did not want the women there. so the big challenge was constantly feeling like you had to prove yourself and feeling like if you did not do a good job, you were letting down your entire gender. finally took an inspector's test and passed that and then

went down to the hall of justice and worked different investigations for the rest of my career, which was fun. i just felt sort of buried alive in all of these cases, these unsolved mysteries that there were just so many of them, and some of them, i didn't know if we'd ever be able to solve, so my boss was able to get me out of the unit. he transferred me out, and a couple of weeks later, i found out i had breast cancer. my intuition that the job was killing me. i ended up leaving, and by then, i had 28 years or the years in, i think. the writing thing really became intense when i was going through treatment for cancer because i felt like there were so many parts that my kids didn't know. they didn't know my story, they didn't know why i had a relationship with my mother, why we had no family to speak of. it just poured out of me. i gave it to a friend who is an editor, and she said i think this would be publishable and i think people would be interested in this.

i am so lucky to live here. i am so grateful to my parents who decided to move to the city. i am so grateful they did. that it never