Currently in limbo

October 17, 1989 - Dad's 50th birthday evening. Also the day I was at home in Santa Cruz, CA when the Loma Prieta Earthquake wreaked havoc in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rental apartment was all right, college friend and I drove away to Los Angeles for awhile until things settled down and we had to return to school.

1993 - Married my college beau, Paul, and celebrated on two continents, honeymooned in the Caribbean.

January 17, 1994 - Northridge Earthquake toppled heavy furniture away from my new in-laws' sleeping heads in the family home. Drove like mad from a Lake Tahoe ski trip cut short, thankfully none hurt, house undamaged.

The year daughter Maggie was born

The year son Alex was born

September 11, 2001 - My city of birth, New York, attacked. Glued to the TV, finally able to confirm relatives were safe.

March 2005 - Dad's cancer diagnosis

November-December 2006 - Dad was in remission, first time parents visit us in Hong Kong  where we had settled to raise a family. Amazingly able to find his ancestral home in southern China.

December 31, 2009 - Dad had relapsed and slipped away New Year's Eve. Thankful I was able to make it back to be with him, Mom and my sister.

December 19, 2011 - My beloved Poa Poa passed away a week shy of her 98th birthday. Almost every weekend growing up my cousins and I would get together to hang out and eat.

Summer 2015 - Back to back vacations with my side of the family - first time cruising, and Paul's - second time (for me) to visit Las Vegas

October 6, 2017 - Paul's dad lost battle with cancer

July 26, 2018 - The monstrosity that is the Carr Fire in its third day approaches west Redding in the early evening, shockingly jumps the Sacramento River, roars up the hill, and destroys the neighborhood around the home we moved from NYC to in 1978. 

I had been following the progress halfway around the world with a 15 hour time difference, worriedly texting my mother about a possible evacuation, thankfully learning she made her way to a friend's home on the east side to nervously wait unsleeping overnight, only to decide that getting out of town the next day was probably safer, hearing that she met friends and made it to their home in Chico, waiting until the evacuation orders were lifted and roads reopened, or for other news confirming the definite fate of our family's home of 40 years while the fire was slowly being conquered. The gut-wrenching experience is written about so well in this article. 

Update: Cal Fire published the structure status map and it showed the information we didn't want to see. Currently in limbo...

-

First photos of the aftermath - that intake of breath, a feeling of nauseating hollowness in the pit of my stomach, heart thump-thumping away, silence ringing in my ears...