Go back 17.5 years to this address.....608 South St. Andrews...Los Angeles CA...where it all started. This was our 1st apartment together....we got it 2 weeks before we got married...it was so small but it was the ONLY place in ALL of LA that allowed dogs. Everyone there had dogs, everything from toy poodles to great danes. During our time there, we experienced several elevator malfunctions, 3 earthquakes that we felt and one fire. The fire was set by a crazy lady (lots of these in LA) anyway she decided to kill herself by setting her apartment on the 1st floor on fire. Then she changed her mind after realizing the seriousness of the situation. Thankfully she called the fire department. The time was 1AM and we had been living there for 2 months. We woke to someone pounding on our 4th floor apartment door, screaming FIRE. We jumped up, I grabbed our little dog Marmaduke, he was a little terrier with the heart & attitude of a LION. Jason looked at me and asked "what do you want to keep?" Now....most newlyweds don't have much and we were no exception...there was not much to keep (no big bridal showers in those days)...but our wedding pictures were important....even though we had a small simple wedding at the home of my grandparents, the pictures were by far the most important thing we had with us....outside of Marmaduke. So out the door we go in our pajamas with our little dog and several envelopes full of pictures. Down 4 flights of stairs and out the front doors into total chaos. People in PJ's and dogs everywhere. Word got around quick as to why we all were gathered outside on that fine April morning. The crazy lady tried to kill herself again....no big deal expect this time she was affecting hundreds of others. We were just thankful that we were on the 4th floor and not the 8th, those people were not able to make it down the stairs in time and had to be evacuated by fire engine ladder.....a very long ladder that they had to crawl down in PJ's (and one who was not in PJ's) carrying their dogs and trying not to look down from 90 feet up. Ok....so now it 1:30 and everyone and their dog is standing outside...now what. We wait. Hours pass. 2 dogs fights later we get the ok that everyone one floors 2 - 8 can return home, so up we all go, it's now 5:30AM. Back up the stairs, back into bed. Then the alarm goes of at 6:00...time to get up! Just to give you an idea of where in LA we were....if you went to the end of our block and turned right onto a street called Wilshire, drive for about 10 minutes and you will be on Rodeo Drive. It's amazing how much LA can change in 10 minutes....we lived in a area called the Mid-Wilshire district....it was like the Tower is here, only older. Oh....the crazy lady was checked out and she was fine....in fact she went on to have her own morning show.Only in LA!
