Columnists: Mark Vasche
Forty years ago this week, I walked into The Modesto Bee for the first day of what would turn out to be, to my absolute and everlasting delight, a grand adventure.
I had completed college, finished a stint at Fort Ord and just taken a trip down the matrimonial aisle. And now I was a reporter. Being a journalist, a colleague once said, is like "having a seat on the curb as the parade of history passes by -- and getting paid to pass on what we observe to others."Do you love Modesto? If so, how can you show it in a practical, tangible, visible way?
Since posing those questions a week ago, I've heard lots of stories about people who are joyfully and freely giving of themselves to help others. But I've heard of more than a handful of excuses.Do you love Modesto?
Not as in, do you love living here? Nor as in, do you love things about the city, such as the farmers markets, MoBand concerts, the Gallo Center or the mall? Nor as in, do you love your home, your neighborhood and the things you do with friends?Rather, do you love Modesto? As in, does your heart break for people going through the trials and tragedies of life? Or as in, are you deeply troubled by gang violence, rundown neighborhoods and unkempt parks and people living on the streets? Or as in, do you yearn to make this a better place by giving help and hope wherever, however and to whomever it's needed?More Columnists: Mark Vasche Stories 
