The Road From Loss
Loss is part of the human condition, a universal experience. When the L.A.-area wildfires of January 2025 reduced to rubble much of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the sense of overwhelming loss throughout the region felt nearly tangible. Within days we decided to address the widespread sense of loss. We asked members of the LMU community to write broadly about loss in their lives. —The Editor
Loss Is a Body In Flames
Michelle Bitting, who teaches poetry in the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, connects the loss of her home in the Palisades fire, and other losses in her life, with the help and support of friends and family that she received.
The Silence in Sentences
As his son struggles to relearn how to speak, Oliver de la Paz ’94, ’95 remembers his father’s attempts to erase his immigrant’s accent after arriving in the United States.
Living With Loss and Remembrance
We accumulate losses as life passes, it seems. But, says Bryant Keith Alexander, dean of the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts, we also steadily accumulate the people who will care for us.
Aspects of Loss in Los Angeles
D.J. Waldie writes about how the awareness of loss abides in L.A., where little seems permanent — not even the ground we walk on.
Disappeared
Evelyn McDonnell, who teaches journalism in the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, describes the loss of a loved who was seized and detained amid roundups currently being conducted by the U.S. government.
To Grieve For Oneself
Lynell George ’84 writes about losing and grieving parts of oneself when circumstances beyond our control force major and unwanted life changes upon us.
The Weight We Carry
Michelle Amor Gillie, who teaches screenwriting in the LMU School of Film and Television, reflects on about the death her of nephew and the struggles Black women face every day in an America that seems to not fully accept her, and them.
A Book Thief’s Confession
Mike Jordan Laskey wonders whether St. Anthony can help him locate the books, now lost, he’s lended out. But can the patron saint of lost causes help Laskey with the borrowed books he’s never returned himself?
Going, Going, Gone
John Rosengren has collected baseball cards since his childhood. But when he sold them, he wondered what else he’d lost in the exchange.
The Lost Neighborhood
Joseph Wakelee-Lynch, editor of LMU Magazine, suggests loss is like an eddy in time that carries us back and forth from past to present.