This past Saturday, I joined nearly 200 others in the search for a woman missing out of Marina. Her photo had been all over the news and in newspapers for a week, as family members sought to find out what happened to Carie Munoz.
Forty three years is a long time. That's how long my parents, who celebrated their anniversary this week, have been married. I wonder - more in amusement than in awe - how two people can put up with each other for that long and be as content as they are.
I'll be the first one to stand up and say that I'm guilty of using the word "retarded" in jest, without thinking twice as it left my lips. But sometimes, in order to gain a new perspective, all it takes is knowing someone with challenges different from your own. That's how it happened for me.