Hannah’s Home (Boulder Creek Fire Relief Fund)

This is my beautiful friend Christie and her daughter Hannah who lost their home and belongings in the Boulder Creek fires. I realize that this catastrophe has affected many people's lives in our area. Our families, our friends, ourselves.  We are all being challenged to find ways to give to so many and I am here asking for a little piece of that pot for my generous, open hearted angel of a friend who was wholly unprepared for the devastation that has come upon her and her young daughter and the life she has been working so diligently at building for them.  Please read her reflection and give what you can to help them rebuild that life in a new home after the ashes have cleared. Thank you!! 
 
"What a complex experience to lose one’s home to the very natural fury of Mother Earth. The myriad of emotions that arise feel like scenes from an action movie; where your heart pounds out of your chest; tears might fall to the ground; and exhaustion ultimately sets in from the roller coaster of emotions that are evoked from simply sitting on your coach.

Except on this couch you are fully present observing your beautiful, vibrant, 18 month-old daughter when she asks for “Home” and your heart sinks into the remembrance of what a beautiful home it was for her and her 3, 6 and 9 year-old cousins to be raised in. In a blink, your mind pulls you out of the past and into the the future- into all of the what if‘s, what now’s and how could we possibly...?

You are brought back to present by your incredibly joyful toddler asking for “undies”- as you are in the midst of a transition with elimination communication and she refuses to wear diapers. A mild dose of regret ensues as you didn’t think to grab anything from her underwear drawer as you ran out of the house, without much more than your camping gear and clothes to last the two of you a few nights camping.

Grief trickles in over the handmade, silk-lined baby blanket a friend made for her that you saw on your way out of the house but didn’t stop to grab; or the box of old pictures, diplomas, and books that you had just organized two days before and left behind- naively believing the bubble of moist, cool prayers that you wrapped your house in would be enough to protect it from nature’s greatest cleansing force. A moment goes by and you receive a generous surprise visit from a friend who lifts your spirit, in the truest sense of the phrase, with an offering of unconditional love and support. You are taken by the mind-blowing and heart-expanding outpour of love, compassion, and offers of support from your community.

Skimming through pictures on your phone-in search of photos of your lost dogs to post on Nextdoor, you are reminded of all of the memories made in that home.

It becomes so crystal clear that a home is not a structure, where you store your belongings. Home IS the individuals in those pictures. Home is in the hearts of those in your tribe. We are home when we are with our people.

What a humbling experience to be stripped of these things once deemed so important, and be so gracefully reminded of the much bigger picture.

Let us voluntarily pull ourselves out of the zoomed-in lens on our life, from which we too often operate, so that times like these do not have to be as painful. Let us be reminded of Anicca- that nothing, noone, no state of being is permanent. Everything is constantly changing and about the only guarantee we have is that of continual transformation.

The reality of the situation at hand is that my sister, brother in-law, and myself must provide shelter for the children so we will rebuild. I compare this new chapter to childbirth- it is not easy and it is certainly going to be a lot of hard work, but the deeper we tune into our natural currents, the more pain-free it will be. Such is life.

And here we are, Hannah and I, sitting in gratitude for all of it and open to very humbly receiving any offers of support that might allow us to contribute to the reconstruction of Hannah’s “Home”

Thank you.