01/24/2023
Part 5
(End of Part 4: “I could not believe a church would deny us entrance. But, since we weren’t allowed to stay on the bus, our only alternative was to sit on the pavement of the church’s parking lot and wait—but wait for what? The bus had gotten us to safety so what else did we want?”)
Everyone left the bus and found somewhere to sit to contemplate their next move. Should Marty and I get a hotel room? And if we did, how would we get there? I suppose if we had relatives in the area, we could have called them for help. But our relatives are not around. They live more than eight hours away in southern California or on the East Coast. The truth is that there wasn't one available hotel room within a hundred miles. Paradise residents filled them up fast.
A myriad of obstacles and their solutions ran through my mind: where? When? Who? How? I looked around and a new reality hit me. What was I worrying about? I wasn’t sitting on the side of a dirt road in a war zone in the Congo. Soldiers weren’t looking for me with machetes and machine guns. I wasn’t in a place without food or without any hope of shelter. I was in Chico, for heaven’s sake. Whining is an insult to everything.
Just then my cell phone rang. It was one of my writing students.
“Nora, where are you? I’m coming to get you. Do you have someplace to stay? Do you know what you’re going to do?” I answered no to everything, except the part where he was coming to get us.
Bob had been a student for years and his writing had become compelling and a delight to read. He was also a friend. He took me, Marty, and our dog to his home. His wife gave us clothes, fed us, and gave us a place to sleep. We were mentally exhausted, and after an hour or two of talking to our hosts, we had no trouble getting to sleep. For now, the horror was over. We were safe. Little did we know that we would spend the next four years sparing with the insurance company, filling out forms, justifying our loses, validating our expenses, and filing a lawsuit against PGE. Above all, we had no place to live and the search wasn't going to be easy.
Tomorrow: "Tying Up Loose Ends" I'll also post a pictorial of our fire story and where we are now. IF YOU HAVE A FIRE STORY, PLEASE POST IT HERE.