The story of this year is already turning grim…
Ben and Jennie live in Altadena. They called Tuesday night to say they had to evacuate, literally at a moment’s notice and with not much more than the clothes on their backs, to escape the Eaton fire — they (and their cat) got out safely, and were at her Mom’s house a few hours away.
Wednesday afternoon they called to let us know that their home and all their possessions, and in fact their entire neighborhood, were just gone. Clothes, furniture, books and artwork, their bank and grocery store and favorite restaurant… They lived in an enclave of tiny little cottages, and were very close with their neighbors; I expect that community will now be scattered to the winds. This is just plain awful.
They spent the last day or so at a friend’s cabin near Joshua Tree to escape the fire pollution, and are now staying at a big AirBnB with her extended family. I don’t know what their immediate plans are, but they said they’ll take a month or so to deal with whatever needs to be done, and then relocate to the East Coast. They’ll stay with us when they get here.
