Last Saturday I was sitting in the baggage area of LAX, drawing in my sketchbook and waiting for our gear to be retrieved. Nita was on her break, saw me drawing and came over to see what I was doing. We talked for a little while and she told me about how proud she was to be doing her job, screening baggage for TSA. "I'm not mean but I'm firm," she said with determination. "Nobody gets anything by me." She told me that her son, Barry, has been in the Navy for 14 years and is now overseas serving the US in Sicily. "He's doing his part there and I'm doing my part right here," she said with a proud smile. Before long her break was over and I hadn't had a chance to draw her. So I asked her if I could take a picture and draw her from that. So here it is, Nita. Thank you for being there, for all of us.
