Foundation

a place to rest upon

Photo courtesy of Pixabay, Let’s pretend I’m the curly-haired young woman in the photo, I always wanted curly hair.

A few more fire stories to share—

On the evening of the second day of our evacuation order, we crawled into bed, worn out from the events of the previous two days and anxious about what was yet to come. Most nights, we either read or play games on our iPad before going to sleep. This night we played our favorite spider solitaire game, silently matching the cards on the screen. We typically play the game over and over until we finally win, or in the alternative, get tired enough to give up. 

We were quiet, absorbed in our individual thoughts until I said,

Do you realize how many offers we’ve received from family and friends inviting us into their homes if we have to leave?

Yes, I do.

 We have some amazing people in our lives.

Yes, we do.

We fell back into silence and, not long after, fell asleep, our spirits lifted by the generosity of our loved ones.

At the point we stopped counting, we had received 13 offers from family and friends, most of whom were couples, meaning 26 people offered to open their doors to us or allow us to use their vacant summer homes. Our best friends both in the Bay Area and Fresno opened their doors to us. My old friend Lois called to tell me her son Ryan, who I probably met one time fifteen years ago, had recently moved to Auburn and wanted us to know he was able to help if we needed to haul anything away. My son’s childhood friend Sammy, who we haven’t seen in five years, texted to let me know his brother Omar lives up the freeway from us and was able to help in any way! Our niece and nephew both reached out offering help and a place to stay. Rick’s high school friend that he hasn’t seen in 30 years texted saying he and his wife were in Europe, their house was empty and we were welcome to come stay. An old client/friend from years ago when I was landscaping in the bay area, who has also moved up to the foothills, offered to let us come stay, as well as our former next door neighbor from Montara, also now a resident of the foothills. And then there were the texts, emails, and phone calls from those who live too far away to help, but wanted to let us know that we were in their thoughts and prayers.

I will be crying tears of gratitude for months.

This experience has left me with a revelation of sorts.

We’ve only got so many hours a day, days a week…  and in those finite hours, we’ve got busy lives to tend to, leaving very few unchecked moments.

If we were to try to hold on to everyone we are privileged to gather as we move through life, we’d fill up our dance cards pretty quickly, leaving no room for the new souls we are also meant to meet, learn from, and grow to love.

Luckily, we are fortunate enough to collect a blessed few souls as we move through the years that we remain closely connected with, but many others must for the most part move to and reside in our hearts.

I’ve learned from this experience that those wondrous people are not gone; they are always there waiting should I need them. And more importantly, they are the foundation my soul rests upon in this lifetime.