Ben Lee Properties — May 2020 Newsletter

Issue: May 2020  |  Cheviot Hills & Beverlywood, Los Angeles

This Month's Article

By Ben Lee H as it really only been a month since this “new normal” of staying at home has been in affect?

In a way it feels like a lot longer but, on the other hand, it also feels as though it was only yesterday when we were out to dinner with friends.

I think about that night now (March 10. Madeo in Beverly Hills) and realize that was the last time we’ll be able to say we were at a restaurant without really worrying about waiters getting too close or kids sneezing a few tables away.

There were no masks or gloves or anxiety about getting sick.

In a way it has become like the last time we flew before 9/11, before all the post 9/11 measures were put into place.

Our children will be able to tell their grandchildren about what life was like before the pandemic of 2020.

They’ll recall times when they could hang out with friends in big groups or go to packed food courts at the mall.

They’ll remember with fondness how fun Dodgers Stadium was on Opening Day with 55,000 other people clamoring to get in to watch the game.

They’ll talk about being in a crowded classroom or bus or all the parties we used to have at the house and no one was in a mask unless it was Halloween.

Not sure when or if life will return to what we knew prepandemic days or how indelible an imprint the memories from these weeks/months in quarantine will make.

Yes, there are plenty of moments when we get on each other’s nerves.

There are times we each need to retreat to separate, private areas of the house just to catch a glorious moment of quiet.

We worry about too much screen time for the youngest one, wondering if his brilliant little mind is slowly just eroding away.

But then we rationalize that playing a game keeps him a) safe and b) engaged with so many friends he misses.

We worry about getting sick while missing our parents and siblings and friends we can only interact with through Zoom.

I’m missing Open Houses and showings and shaking hands with clients.

And, of course, there is the underlying concern about the real estate market in general.

Obviously now is a tense time; but once the stay-at-home orders get lifted and the economy reopens, I’m confident buyers and sellers will resume healthy transactions.

I’m projecting about a month from now is when the best deals are to be had.

For all the negatives swirling around us right now, there are plenty of positives to this quarantine, too.

My 15 year old is learning how to drive with virtually no traffic.

There is virtually no traffic! The air quality is impeccable.

We haven’t had to set an alarm clock in months.

There is no arguing over who has to pick up which kid from which practice at whatever terrible rush hour time of day.

There is no rush hour time of day! We’ve labored over puzzles and laughed hysterically trying to make sense of them.

Every late afternoon we head up to our upstairs balcony and chat with neighbors and friends walking by below.

We’ve been given the gift of extra time with our boys who will one day leave home.

We are living through history unfolding before our eyes.

And despite all the things we are currently doing without, the one thing we do have besides our health (knock wood) is our neighborhood.

Just knowing that we are going through it together as a community helps ease the tensions just a little bit.

I wish I could give credit to the neighbors who put up the message we are using for our cover photo this month but I don’t know who is responsible.

I do hope you are reading this so you know it is very much appreciated.

Not only is it beautiful, heartfelt and true but it is also a great reminder that we are indeed lucky to have each other and yes, we will get through it together.

Thank you for doing it and I hope you, your loved ones and all of our shared community continues to stay safe and healthy.

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Beverlywood happenings By Ben Lee H igh school and college students set to graduate in 2020 have certainly had to give up many of the fun activities and highlights of their senior year.

No prom, no spring musical, no sports banquets, no real sense of closure on this chapter of their lives.

Sad for the students, yes, but possibly even more so for their proud parents.

For one family in particular, this isn’t just about missing an important day.

Laura and Luis Lopez have not one but two daughters graduating this month and, the cancelled ceremonies mean no public acknowledgement of their great accomplishments.

The “American Dream” as defined by coming to this country with nothing in the hopes of a better life for loved ones, has been realized and deserves to be recognized.

Laura and Luis came to the United States from Mexico in 1991 when they were teenagers.

They worked nonstop in often thankless jobs, learned to speak English, purchased a home, had two daughters, Laurita and Kayla, and ultimately earned their American citizenship in 2014.

Their girls studied their way through Castle Heights Elementary, Palms Middle School and Hamilton High School.

In 2016, Laurita did the impossible: she got a full scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley and this May she becomes the first in her family to graduate from college.

Her sister Kayla is currently a senior at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High and will graduate this June.

She studied the violin, participated in the Associated Student Body and has recently accepted an invitation to attend Cal Poly Pomona this fall, majoring in engineering.

It would’ve been so special for Laura and Luis (who just celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary) to watch both of their daughters graduate this year: to witness the happy result of so many years of working hard be recognized.

They certainly deserved to throw big parties and invite all their friends and family to celebrate and honor these amazing achievements of not only their daughters but of themselves as well.

Because while their daughters worked tirelessly to succeed and certainly deserve every acknowledgement and accolade coming their way, it’s fair to say they wouldn’t have gotten there if it weren’t for the sacrifices, struggles and unwavering support their parents gave them every step of the way.

So, congratulations to Laura, Luis and of course their 2020 graduates: Laurita and Kayla.

You may not get to witness the formal ceremonies you had envisioned this year but hopefully, eventually you’ll be able to properly celebrate the incredible accomplishments of your daughters as well as your own.

Congratulations to you and all the rest of this year’s graduates.

Well done! Congradulations Westside Stories If you enjoy reading these vignettes each month, you may want to check out my father-in-law’s book, Westside Stories.

It’s a memoir/history of growing up on the Westside of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s with great photos, anecdotes and stories.

Perfect for the history buff/enthusiast in your family!

It’s available for purchase on Amazon, just search for Westside Stories by Michael Harris.

By Ben Lee S ummer is right around the corner and usually this is time of year when we present our summer photo contest!

Remember last year’s winner took our newsletter all the way to the Colosseum in Rome?

Since international travel may be tough these days, we are keeping this year’s contest nice and easy.

Email me (ben@benleeproperties. com) with your address (must be local.

Please write “ADDRESS” in the subject line).

We will wear gloves and leave the item on your doorstep within a day or two.

Then, once you have either the towel or cap, take a picture of a family member using it.

Maybe the hat will come in handy taking a socially distant walk around the neighborhood?

Perhaps you could use the towel while catching some sun in the backyard?

Just take a picture and send to me with SUMMER in the subject line.

Everyone who enters gets a small prize. If you rather not take part in the contest but would like an item anyway, that’s fine, too!

Just email me where we can drop off the item and then enjoy.

Thanks and hope you like your new cap or towel! – Photo Contest – stay-at-home style By Michael Harris I n these days of quarantine we have the opportunity to look at how things are not so different than in years past.

The word quarantine itself comes from a Latin word meaning “forty” because that was how long a victim of infection had to be isolated during the bubonic plague: 40 days.

Literature includes many works involving pandemics.

Daniel Defoe published his “ A Journal of the Plague” in 1722.

It was an account of the experiences of those who lived with the London plague of 1665.

It was a history but the actual journal of one living through that plague in London was included by the great diarist, Samuel Pepys. “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez involves the story of an unfaithful husband who is devoted to the eradication of cholera in Latin America.

He falls off a ladder and dies and in the old age of his widow loves blossoms with her original love that her father had discouraged.

It is also a movie made recently starring Javier Bardem.

And for a movie that plots the rigors of life in, and the need to deal with, a plague you might consider the Stephen Soderberg movie named “Contagion.” It is prescient and entertaining but maybe a little too close to reality to be wholly entertaining.

Stay safe, isolate and consider that we are reliving history as it repeats itself.