It's Just Stuff

Ok so think for a quick second, if you were put on evacuation notice and only had say an hour or so to pack, what would you take? With the wildfires in Colorado so many people have either been evacuated or have lost their homes. Being here in London and waiting to hear what the situation is with my parents and friends hasn’t been easy.

My parents emailed me asking if they should take anything that was mine, I thought about it, and there are a few things that I wanted them to take. Mostly everything I have is packed up in boxes in my parents crawlspace. When they emailed me I realized a lot of what I own is just that, stuff, it can be replaced. Electornics, kitchen stuff, clothes, books, etc. that can all be replaced. What can’t are memories, after I emailed my parents with a very small list I ended up emailing them back and asked if they could pack the Christmas ornaments. Why such an odd request? Mainly because every year we get an ornament for a present that signifies what we did or what happened that year. The last time we packed up the house was in 2002 when the Hayman fire was threatening to come over the mountains. Everything was packed in the cars, one of our dogs wouldn’t leave the car and we were on standby. As much as I know what it’s like to be on standby evacuation, I don’t know what it’s like to lose a home, I’ve seen pictures from various news sites and it’s heartbreaking, I know those places and I grew up going to the parks and various other sites. It isn’t a pity party, just a moment of reflection.

My parents have a second place in the mountains, away from the fire, so they can go up there if they need to. I’m thankful for that, it’s just hard to fathom where so many people are staying. There are only so many homes, shelters, and hotels that can take people in. If I had the money I would donate as much as I could to the Red Cross and various other programs. With the Air Force Academy being in the path of the fire, firefighters and the Academy are doing what they can to combat the fire, but right now it seems things have quieted down. So the question remains, what’s important to you?

In the meantime donate or volunteer with your local animal shelters, Red Cross, Food Banks, etc.  Also to donate to help the relief on CO wildfires go to www.helpcolorado.org