Wildfire

Wild fire

This post is not meant to diagnose, treat, or save you from mental illness, if you or someone you love is in danger, please get help. You can text HOME to 741741 to be connected with a crisis counselor. I personally have. You can also call or text 988 for suicide and crisis help.
http://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts

**Trigger Warning: This post contains content relating to the wildfires of California.

When the ones you love are in danger, you will do anything you can to stop it. When one person can’t be there for you, another can. If you are alone and you feel all alone, just know that you are not alone. There is always at least one person in the world who knows who you are; albeit they might not know exactly who you are to your core. I am up super early, I cannot sleep; my mind is reeling with everything I am seeing on the news and in the media for my beautiful friends in Glendale, CA and the surrounding areas. I woke in the middle of the night to flashes of people burning in their homes. For I am not from there; I did not grow up there as many of the beautiful people who live there: people of all races, colors, beliefs; my people. There are so many of them that I know “personally” that may not be safe right now, so many of them who are hurting, in danger or possibly even gone. The college where I learned all that I know about English and Literature, the homes of the people that so graciously and beautifully let me into their family’s homes for celebrations, holidays, road trips, etc. The people who were there for me when it felt like no one was listening and I was only seeking opportunity for myself and my boyfriend (husband now). This was the place we went to get “our shot” our dream for a better life outside the cold confinement of Ohio and it’s four seasons.

There is much speculation in the news and media about the fires, there is so much false information that it makes my stomach turn, hurt and ache with all of the turmoil spilling out on televisions, phones, tablets, drones, video cameras, go pros and more. But what are we really seeing? Haven’t we seen this before? Well I’ll take you on a journey to tell you what the difference is through my eyes. Through the eyes that have seen the beauty in the area of the all the havoc; in what looks like Hollywood, Glendale, Acton, and all the surrounding areas. Believe it or not, I lived there. I was in Glendale going to school, I was in Acton with a child in my arms when one fire knocked on our door before and I was in Hollywood to tour the stars, see movies and put my hands in Judy Garlands imprints. The people that were there for me were immeasurable, welcoming, helpful, and in many, many ways, so kind to the little “white girl” from Ohio. For there I wasn’t just black or white, I was many other beautiful things: I was a Romanian, an English Major, a Mother, and much later in my journey: a friend.

In the places I would go and see there I was mystified, taken away and all of beholding beauty and peace. With stars in my eyes, a dog at my feet, and my boyfriend by my side, I embarked on an incredible journey to the place that always called my heart: Hollywood; a place I had only dreamed of, a place that somehow, would make some sense for I was always in such wonderful and awe of: the movies. Many people may not know where the San Fernando Valley is. Many people may not have seen it or even heard of it where I am from in Ohio: near the Great Lakes, near the shores of Lake Erie, but I do. I know what The San Fernando Valley, Antelope Valley and Laurel Canyons look like. I have pictures upon pictures in my phone and on my mind about the wonder they behold. Have you ever seen the “Land Before Time”? The “Great Valley” they seek is not for their own personal gain, but for a better life. I am a little off topic, but in the movie, they are after one thing and one thing “alone” to find a place that they can call their own. The San Fernando Valley became that for me, although, it took some time.

-A Manic Monday