You know it's time to move out of Oakland when....

Today we were on a family shopping trip to Target in San Leandro. On the way there we drove past the hospital and remembered aloud how a special older woman from our congregation had been there after surgery. She died over a year ago, leaving a huge hole in our church community and also in our lives. Ms. Vernie was kind, compassionate, gracious, and always sharing a smile with our kids. We talked about how she had died and how her husband had died long ago before we came to Oakland. Then our oldest daughter (5 years old) asked the following question: "How did Ms. Vernie's husband die? Was he sick or did he get shot?"

WHAT? Maybe we need to move to the suburbs to escape urban blight and the proliferation of guns in Oakland. Then again we could end up living next door to Leona Babbit, the Unabomber, or something even worse.

Gotta love Oakland!