There are three young men who live in a house on the corner of a street called "Apple". Abdullah, Devin, and Josh are their names. Although this Apple Street appears to be a popular meeting ground for the neighborhood bandits, these guys have been able to create a home there. (Definitely a BOY home. Mix-matched furniture and what-not, but an inviting one nonetheless). I'm sure if they felt comfortable doing so, the doors would remain unlocked.
Abdullah
Devin
Josh
All three boys are from Michigan. All rather unique in their individual ways. I won't get into the specifics of each guy right now for I'd be writing an entirely different post, but one thing they do have in common is the shared value of community.
One night a week their door is found safely open for an evening of eating and mingling. This is a tradition once started in a college home in East Lansing, MI, now brought to mid-city Los Angeles. On Tuesdays, tacos are made.
They invite whoever to come eat. It's a simple thing, but a beautiful one. Each week is a different turn out. Some people work together, others are in different fields. Some locals, some out-of-towners. A few folks will stay very late, some simply stop by to say hi. Some weeks there's a large group, others it's more intimate. One week the group was larger, so we played charades.
Each week though, you can count on one thing - that the people there are happy. Hey, it's hard to find that easy sense of community in a large city (especially one as large as LA) so of course people notice the feeling they get from a good Taco Tuesday. I know I do.
Here's to bringing this tradition to LA, boys! In doing so you've confirmed for me, once again, that it's genuinely the people (or genuine people, rather) that make a place - not the other way around.
Thank you!
Sydney