Gratitude

I live in Santa Clarita, CA. Over the weekend, a wildfire, known as the Sand Fire, moved in.  In just 6 short days, it has burned over 33,000 acres, destroyed 18 homes, and taken 1 life.  My boyfriend and I don't have much experience with fires or fire safety. We are originally from Modesto, CA, and while wildfires happen near there, it's not the same as being able to see flames from your patio.

Live updates from news outlets were reporting that people were being evacuated from their homes,  so as a precaution, my boyfriend and I started packing up important items that we'd want to take with us in the event that the fire caused us to leave our home behind.

Aside from our safe that contains personal documents, I struggled with putting things together that I'd "need" because aside from my cat and my boyfriend, I didn't really "need" anything else.

I packed away my MacBook because it's where I write. I packed my great grandma's cookbook that she left to my nana when she passed. I packed the notebook I took with me to Paris and wrote in everyday I was there. I packed my favorite book, The Giving Tree that my great grandma bought me when I was seven. I packed some things that belonged to my biological dad, who passed away last year. Oh, and I packed my 8 disc Blu Ray set of Harry Potter because duh.

Honestly, just knowing my boyfriend and my cat were safe would have been enough. The other things I mentioned were merely things that I was given the luxury to pack up because we packed early.

I thought this morning how grateful I am that I don't need much.  It's really easy for me, when a wildfire isn't occurring, to think about all of the things that I don't have: enough money, a better job, a better place to live, but I realized over these last few days that those things aren't important. That if I were asked to leave my home with the possibility of never seeing it again, I wouldn't care about the car I was driving or how much was in my wallet.

Those are just things and those things can be replaced.

I'm extremely grateful to the brave firefighters who have worked tirelessly to contain the fire. It is looking, as of this moment, like we don't have to evacuate, but it's good to know the things I'd need in case we did.