Support a Family in Their Time of Need after Altadena Fire

A message my dear friend Charise Stewart’s daughter, Siena.

Rubio Vista Road was our treasured haven for the 25 years my parents owned it. It was the site of Sunday dinners, of birthday parties from babyhood up through my 24th just this past September, of a whole lifetime of love. I am experiencing grief on every last level: for the schools and their students, for the neighborhoods flattened to one remaining house, for the loss of every place you’d bump into neighbors. I am also experiencing utter anguish for us, my small, resilient, can-do family. My wonderful parents bought our house in 1999, welcomed little me nine months later, and spent the next nearly three decades raising their family and painstakingly making it their own. Bit by bit, year after year, they changed every floor, every fixture, every paint color, every window. My dad spent hours on a ladder scraping the popcorn ceiling. Up until last Sunday, he spent every weekend morning taking excellent care of the backyard my parents always dreamed of and eventually got, landscaping and all. My mom hand selected each furnishing and piece of decor. She made Thanksgiving dinner in our kitchen and served it on the loveliest tablescape. I still slept in a bed my grandparents purchased for me when I was a baby, one that started as a crib, became a toddler bed, and then a full-sized bed. I collaged my walls with handwritten notes from friends, postcards sent from loved ones on their travels all over the world, and concert tickets. We valued this space more than any dollar amount could possibly encapsulate.

My family is also responsible for the care, wellbeing, and safety of my (nearly) 93-year-old grandmother Dorothy. We moved her to Pasadena when my grandfather’s cognitive decline began, then to Altadena when he had to be moved to a memory care facility. We take her to the doctor and bring her meals. She lived just three miles from us in an area you’d never dream might even be threatened by a wildfire — but entire streets all around her are wiped out. Miraculously, her home is standing, but will be toxic with carcinogenic smoke and ash for the foreseeable future. She has several long-term health issues, including respiratory, and will not be safe or healthy there.

The labor of creating a home, our home, is one of THE MOST LOVE you could ever imagine. It will be what sustains me and educates me on how to live my life forever. I appreciate each one of your individual desires to keep us going into tomorrow, next month, and next year. Any funds raised will go toward the incurred expenses of this trying time in our lives not covered by insurance or FEMA.