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Hello All,
My sister and I have created this Go Fund me page for my mother, Wendy Ward. My mother, niece and nephew barely escaped the Paradise wildfire with their lives. Both their homes were destroyed. As we were writing this, I asked our mom to make notes about how this experience affected her. I could have not expressed this any better than she. This is what she wrote.
My name is Wendy. I am a 68 year old Great Grandmother, and like most older people, I have already seen my share of the blues. But the Camp Fire was the worst. It stole my memories, not just my home. It took my photographs on the wall, the boxes of photo albums in the garage, the Christmas ornaments my children made when they were little, the small clay mugs they made that survived the college Roku firing when my own did not, the homemade ceramic doll with red velvet clothes my mother, who died many years ago, gave to me, her rocking chair where she rocked many a small child, and so many more precious things that cannot be replaced.
I am an artist and a writer. I lost my art room, all my supplies and my paintings, all my poetry and stories. That was like losing a part of myself. I had everything I needed in my art studio - paints of all kinds, brushes, media, pastels, paper, palettes, inks, mat cutters and much more. Losing this room was like losing part of my soul. I had almost 20 almost finished 16x20 acrylic paintings that I was going to give to family and friends, as well as paintings from my mom who was also an artist and other members of my family.
But there are also all the things, the practical things that will need to be replaced and that is where I need help. I will need to replace everything in my house, my beautiful dishes, beds, kitchenware, bake ware, pots & pans, furniture, tools, mirrors, light bulbs, table & chairs, towels, sheets, pillow cases, etc. You name it, I will need it. But I can't collect the objects themselves because I have no where to live at the moment. I don't even know where I am going to live right now. All I can do is save money so when I find a place to settle I will be able to start over. And that is what it is like, starting over. From ash, literally.
Although barely escaping the fire was a harrowing experience and losing everything I owned is heart-wrenching, I know there are many who have fared much worse. I am thankful my granddaughter Shana, who also lost her home, and my great-grandson, Lucas, and I made it to safety. I found out my home was on fire about 15 minutes after I left! My son's girlfriend is part of the Search and Rescue effort in Paradise and Magalia and her conversations really bring it home how different things could have been for us. We are here, we are alive. We are well. We will thrive. We will rise above the ashes.
My sister and I have created this Go Fund me page for my mother, Wendy Ward. My mother, niece and nephew barely escaped the Paradise wildfire with their lives. Both their homes were destroyed. As we were writing this, I asked our mom to make notes about how this experience affected her. I could have not expressed this any better than she. This is what she wrote.
My name is Wendy. I am a 68 year old Great Grandmother, and like most older people, I have already seen my share of the blues. But the Camp Fire was the worst. It stole my memories, not just my home. It took my photographs on the wall, the boxes of photo albums in the garage, the Christmas ornaments my children made when they were little, the small clay mugs they made that survived the college Roku firing when my own did not, the homemade ceramic doll with red velvet clothes my mother, who died many years ago, gave to me, her rocking chair where she rocked many a small child, and so many more precious things that cannot be replaced.
I am an artist and a writer. I lost my art room, all my supplies and my paintings, all my poetry and stories. That was like losing a part of myself. I had everything I needed in my art studio - paints of all kinds, brushes, media, pastels, paper, palettes, inks, mat cutters and much more. Losing this room was like losing part of my soul. I had almost 20 almost finished 16x20 acrylic paintings that I was going to give to family and friends, as well as paintings from my mom who was also an artist and other members of my family.
But there are also all the things, the practical things that will need to be replaced and that is where I need help. I will need to replace everything in my house, my beautiful dishes, beds, kitchenware, bake ware, pots & pans, furniture, tools, mirrors, light bulbs, table & chairs, towels, sheets, pillow cases, etc. You name it, I will need it. But I can't collect the objects themselves because I have no where to live at the moment. I don't even know where I am going to live right now. All I can do is save money so when I find a place to settle I will be able to start over. And that is what it is like, starting over. From ash, literally.
Although barely escaping the fire was a harrowing experience and losing everything I owned is heart-wrenching, I know there are many who have fared much worse. I am thankful my granddaughter Shana, who also lost her home, and my great-grandson, Lucas, and I made it to safety. I found out my home was on fire about 15 minutes after I left! My son's girlfriend is part of the Search and Rescue effort in Paradise and Magalia and her conversations really bring it home how different things could have been for us. We are here, we are alive. We are well. We will thrive. We will rise above the ashes.
