The fires have taken a toll that will be difficult to calculate. Hundreds of thousands displaced, living in fear. Almost two thousand homes already gone. Countless memories released into smoke, surrendered to the flames, resting in the ashes.
My sister's family hopes to return to their home today. It seems the fire has passed them by leaving only disruption of lives, turmoil and expenses that will never be recouped. Their story is but one in hundreds of thousands... they're among those blessed to have a home to return to. Talking with her about what she took as they were hurried out of their neighborhood, she said: "Looking around at all our stuff, I kind of had an ah-ha moment... realizing that all we owned was not what was important to me. We put the kids in the car and left." I imagine her experience was lived out a thousand times over as people were forced to evaluate their priorities.
I imagine there's a little liberty in that... but what do I know, I wasn't chased out of my home by fire.
We grew up with our mom's story of watching their childhood home burn down. Mom and her older brother Doyle were climbing in a eucalyptus tree in their front yard when they saw smoke coming from the roof. By the time they got down the back of the house was engulfed... she said the house was gone before anyone could come to fight the fire... it was the depression and everything they had was lost. Somehow, the family put things back together... even still, my grandfather was dead, a young man, within the decade. Doyle, her tree climbing brother, was killed in WWII. The house they built on the burned out pad is the place of my memories with granny, she's been gone since '72. That house was eventually torn down to extend the runway at Sky Harbor, the airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
The people who tore it down didn't know a thing about mom and Doyle, climbing a tree out front, only to watch their house catch fire... to lose everything. When I watch TV and see newspeople walk across scorched pads where a home once stood, where so many memories were made, where the walls were once filled with laughter and tears... I remember mom's story and my heart hurts just a little more for the loss.
You know the saying: "Just another perfect day in paradise." We take pride in those days here in Southern California... we haven't had one this week... far from it... it's not even been close to a perfect day. Pray for the people losing everything, those who's lives have been dangerously disrupted, those who are fighting to save it all... pray for us in sunny southern California. We're living for the return of our perfect days.
Song of The Day... in the sidebar... are just words of comfort, from a friend
Click to hear music file
No comments:
Post a Comment