Good Tuesday Morning, My Friend!
During the course of any given day, I usually have threads of stories running through my head. I recall funny memories that I can’t wait to tell you about or something profound I’ve heard and want to share. This past week has been a little different.
Instead of the funny memories, all I can think about is what is happening in Southern California. Certainly, the fact that my daughter and her family live in Los Angeles is at the forefront of my mind. They are safe, thank God, but I also know those Santa Ana winds are predicted to pick up again this week.
I grew up with snow storms. I know the feeling of getting stuck at home for a few days, unable to get out and go anywhere. Hopefully, you heeded the forecast and stocked up on food and other necessities. (I don’t know about you, but chocolate is a necessity of mine.) You made sure you had plenty of gas in your car, so it weighed the car down and gave you more traction in the snow and ice when you eventually got out.
My natural disaster expertise has now switched to hurricanes. The same rules as preparing for a snowstorm apply to preparing for a hurricane. Well, with the added bother of putting up hurricane shutters. I still need to secure some chocolate and probably a bag of truffle oil & sea salt potato chips. (Have you tried those? I could conquer the world with a bag of those delectable morsels.)
But fires! That’s totally new to us.
I talked to Maria, our daughter, last Tuesday, as all of this was starting. She’s on the PTA board of the elementary school in her neighborhood and is on a text thread with the other parents. Many of them were asking if anyone knew if the school had said anything about the upcoming “wind event.” Maria had never heard those two words put together before. She was about to find out.
The next day, she and her husband decided they needed to leave their house after seeing the red glow in the sky to the north of them and thick, black smoke overhead. They gathered a few belongings, grabbed the kids and the dog, and headed south. They ended up staying at a hotel in Anaheim for two nights. The hotel was apparently very close to Disneyland, and Maria said the combination of people in the lobby was an absurd mix of excited families in Micky ears and Disney garb, off to the park, and the other half were bedraggled families looking like zombies, having fled their homes.
I’m so grateful to say that their neighborhood was untouched and their home is fine. The air quality still isn’t great, but my granddaughters all returned to school today.
It was overwhelming to me the outpouring of friends checking in with me on how they were doing. I got so many texts and so many friends posting on Facebook and Instagram their prayers and well wishes. I never once felt “annoyed” that I had to answer another text. Those check-ins gave me such encouragement! Such peace! Since last week, I have talked to many who have someone out in California close to the fires. Los Angeles is a long way away, and sometimes it feels like I’m the only one with a kid living there. Or lives that far away. But that’s not true. We are all feeling for our family members who live there, whether they be daughters or cousins or nieces or friends . . .
The images on TV are heartbreaking. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to lose everything but the clothes on your back and maybe whatever you had time to throw in a bag. Where do you even start?
I want so badly to help, but I don’t know what I can do. I recently went through my closet and have a pile (more of a heap) of clothes. I wish I could hand them to someone in CA who needs them. I do see different news sources on TV posting reputable places that are helping and taking donations of various kinds. You can click here for a list of reliable organizations NBC had on the Today Show.
When Maria and Jared were first considering moving to California from Charlotte, NC, many people wrinkled their noses at them. “Why would you move there?” I heard many similar things. It seems people love to hate California. I’d never been to LA before Maria moved out there, and since they’ve been there, I’ve visited them several times. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. I’d heard so much “yuck” about it. But each time I go, I can’t get over how beautiful it is. Even just out running errands, I look up at the mountains and can’t take my eyes off of them! And the flowers! Really, all of the plants are just so different than anything else I’m used to. Once, Maria drove us out to Malibu for the day, and the drive there was gorgeous. And so many different restaurants from so many different countries. I tend to always want the same thing over and over, so I always want Dan Dan noodles from a place called Joy, but Maria tries to get me to expand my horizons because there are so many other places to try. I know “diversity” has become a bad word, but it can also be beautiful. And delicious!
And the people I’ve met there are nice. Nice! Maria and her whole family have made such good friends there in the 2 ½ years they’ve been there. It wasn’t an easy transition, but moving rarely is. And to see and hear about the outpouring of love and help from fellow Californians to help their neighbors is so heartwarming. Maria and her family volunteered at a YMCA in South Pasadena yesterday, helping serve meals and organizing donations for victims of the fires.
I’m sorry I don’t have a funny story about a too-short bathrobe or something like that for you today. I just have a heart full of gratitude and want to thank you if you sent any prayers up on my daughter’s behalf. There’s nothing better in the world than having friends who care.
I am that for you, my friend.
Written with love – – – – Patti XOXO
PS – – I won’t get to write to you next week. I’m going to California! I’ll write again on January 28.