Jean's Fire Recovery

My amazing college roommate and dear friend, Jean, lost her home in the Palisades fire. A Connecticut native, Jean has called L.A. home for the past 20 years. When she moved to the Palisades in 2015, she found her perfect perch of paradise above the Pacific. Nestled among the lush palm trees, she said it was a dream come true. Sadly, all that remains is rubble and ash. This could destroy almost anyone. But not Jean.

One of Jean's most incredible qualities is her sense of humor. It's one of the many attributes that makes her so special. It's why we became such fast friends in the fall of 1994, laughing and causing a minor ruckus in South Dorm.

I remember her dad mailed us a ham the week before Christmas. What two 18-year--olds with no oven are supposed to do with a five-pound ham is beyond me (let alone when one of them is Jewish), but I digress, lol. We decided we couldn't let the ham suffer, so we trotted her around campus in a little red wagon. Off she went, rolling on the quad, into the dining hall and racing across the bridge for class. While the ham has yet to graduate, we are hopeful this is the year!

Jean and I spoke on the phone last night. She said, "You know, people keep asking me what I wished I still had." Without missing a beat she said, " My "I love sluts" tee and framed preschool diploma." I burst out laughing. Vintage Jean. I mean it's great you went to Yale, Karen, but were you the best napper of 1980? That's what I thought.

With her sense of humor intact, Jean's always had an incredible perspective, one that's truly admirable and inspirational. She said how relieved she was that her family was safe, and has been feeling so much love and support from friends far and wide. If you could please find it in your heart to donate, she would be forever grateful, as would I. She really needs money for housing. Any dollar you give will be a true gift.