Welcome to another installment of Linkpso, where I take a piece of content and use it as a springboard for creativity.
In an era where you have access to every word ever written, I’m so grateful you’ve chosen to read mine.
Hello Friends,
My daughter is eleven, so I watch things like the Grammy’s now. I have no idea who half these kids are, but I say, “Oh, I’ve heard this song”1 a lot. It never takes much for me to cry, but I must say the tributes to the firefighters, people who lost their homes and businesses, and just L.A. in general were quite moving.
I’m not gonna lie; I’ve been pretty bummed out on the discourse around the fires. I know it stems from the Orange Man in Office, but people have agency. They don’t have to go there, but boy, were they ready to dump all over my home state. This state feeds, entertains, and connects the whole country, so I was grateful to see the Grammy’s give the story back to the people who lost everything.2
Santa Barbara is about 90 miles north of the devastation in Alta Dena and The Palisades, but we know the trauma of fires and floods.3 People are coming together to donate food and clothing, and both kids have welcomed students who have been displaced to their schools. The people closest to disaster understand it best… I hope everyone else listens.
Aside from four months in Spain for a study abroad program in college and a few years in Portland, OR, I’ve lived in California all my life. I’ve never lived in L.A., but I spent enough time there to feel like I know it.
It will never be the same, and we are a long way from rebuilding, but I just wanted to share a few of my favorite things about that big, sprawling city to the south of me.
This is where I am today. Thank you for listening.
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Boy is channeling Freddy Mercury!
I learned this week that one of Aiden’s favorite nurses from CHLA lost her childhood home. I don’t think her Instagram is public, so I won’t share it here, but I just wanted to point out how, when something this devastating happens, we are all affected.
In December of 2017, when I was seven months pregnant with Aiden, The Thomas Fire broke out and caused school closures. Nick stayed behind to work, but the kids and I stayed with my brother for almost two weeks until the air was safe again.
I got shivers thinking back to Katrina and the displaced kids joining my school. Natural disasters…