A Time to Help

There will be time enough in the coming weeks to consider changes that must be made to keep people and property in California and other states subject to wildfires safe going forward.? While some people in Los Angeles affected by the fires are prominent and wealthy, most are normal working people or retirees.? It’s a trauma to them emotionally and financially to lose their home or their business, and we need to keep that in mind.

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My father’s parents lost their farm home to a fire in 1940.? Neither my grandfather or grandmother ever mentioned it to me.? My father talked about it only a few times, mostly focusing on how he ran about a mile from his one-room schoolhouse down the gravel road from their home when he saw smoke coming up over the trees.? He had hoped it was a barn, but it was their home.

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A few years ago, my aunt, the last remaining member of a family that had seen eleven children come and go, told me more about the fire, to make sure our family history carried on after she was gone.

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They lost everything at a time and in a place where government services were not destined to come to their aid.? It’s doubtful they had insurance.? Grandpa farmed and did some logging in what is now the Hoosier National Forest, so they only eked by in the best of times.? The fire was a catastrophe to the family.

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In our conversation my aunt shared an observation from a neighboring farmer who galloped to the farm on his horse, seeing smoke in the distance.? He told her years later that his heart sank when he saw my grandparents home burned to the ground, knowing how hard this would be for such a large family that struggled to get by in the best of times.? The family had no clothes or possessions, no money, and no shelter.

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But then he glanced over to see my grandmother, standing beside the rubble of her home with a baby on her hip and the most determined look he had ever seen on a woman’s face.? While he knew the coming months wouldn’t be easy for the family, he knew they would rebuild their lives.

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Somehow, they found a way to rebuild their home.? During that process my grandfather pulled a small logging shed he used for distant work back to the farm with his mule team.? The shed served as a temporary home for the family while they rebuilt.? By my aunt’s memory, the shed was about 12 feet by 8 feet in size.

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The “new house” that I knew as a child in the 1960’s was very much like the one that had burned.? It had a kitchen with an attached well room (as there was no running water), a small parlor, a bedroom for my grandparents and two other bedrooms; one for the boys and one the girls.? It was heated by a pot-bellied stove and did not have electricity, as the Rural Electric Cooperative had not made it out to their farm at that time.

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To help pay for building even such a modest home, and to assure more financial security for the family going forward, my grandmother found a way to be appointed the Postmaster of Deuchars, Indiana, setting up the post office in part of the parlor and the girls bedroom.?

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Deuchears was not really a town, but a collection of farms in the area.? The neighboring farmers would visit my grandparent’s new home for their mail service.? As a boy I remember my grandmother sharing that she kept an eye out for distant dust on the gravel road leading to their farm and made her way to the post office when it appeared, as she likely had a customer coming.

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Looking back, the fact that my grandparents never talked about such a difficult and traumatic time is almost astounding.? They had a life rich in love and experiences, but it was never easy, and this had to be a low-point.? It was the same with their loss of four children in infancy.? They kept all of this in their own hearts and moved on.

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Did neighboring farmers help my grandparents as they rebuilt their home?? Probably.? Is it possible my grandmother’s church pulled together clothing and household goods to help get them started again?? Certainly.? This wasn’t part of the story shared by my aunt, but even memories of kindness can fade with age.

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Let’s keep the people of Los Angeles in our hearts and prayers, and equally as important, in our generosity.? Defer talk and attention of politics and responsibility to a time when we’ve taken care of the people.? There are probably many determined women with babies on their hips who need our help, and our compassion.