The Thomas Fire took down my beautiful dream life and our physical home at Elevate, but we are each rising from the ashes. The most important being to me was the Elevate house dog, Zephyr, as we’d become quite close during my time there. As a lifelong dog lover, I began referring to him as my roommate. As you know, animals and pets especially can become extremely disoriented in a fire, so I grabbed him and ushered him into my car first, before grabbing a few personal items. He became my companion through all of the heartache, misery, adventure and blessings. One dazed and confused morning a few days after the fires, in Morro Bay, I looked down and randomly found this little relic, out of nowhere, with no reason to be sitting at a defunct bistro next to an Oriental Massage (which helps w dog handling shoulder and home displacement!!!)
With nothing in my world to hang on to, this perfectly-timed Sign from the Universe told me in that moment that we were being watched over, held and certainly not forgotten.

Thank you to so many of your kind and generous help in the form of monetary donations, you are helping me to rebuild, replace all that was lost in the fire, and helping me to relieve my financial stress over losing about 2-3 sources of income during this winter season. If you’ve already been a first responder and donated via PayPal, your funds have been added here. Thank you friends and family near and far. #OjaiStrong and we will rise again, as Signs are posted all along the way...