Evac Day 9: Real Life Superheroes and Giving it to Godfrey

So, as I’ve mentioned, there’s a ginormous wildfire running out of control in our neighborhood these days and we’ve evacuated to New York City, where friends of my mother’s have beyond-generously offered us their empty apartment to stay, for as long as we need, with instructions to make ourselves at home. We are discombobulated, but we are safe. We’ve had dozens of invitations from friends to come stay with them, to use their second homes, to come for dinner, to come play date. These are our real life superheroes. These are the people helping my family and me to know we are safe, loved, protected, no matter what happens to our neighborhood, our community, or our home.

And of course there are the firefighters, the emergency workers, the hundreds (thousands?) of support personnel actually working the wildfire, trying to save our homes. There is the one young father, Cory Iverson, a firefighter, who gave his life protecting our town, a sacrifice too big to fathom.  Thank you, Cory.

And then there are the lovely people of New York who smile at my family and me and our “you’re not from around here” look. The busy art directors, copywriters, editors, artists, and financiers we meet as we go on our way: The ticket lady at the Museum of Math who tells me after 1pm on weekdays is the best time to come; The random chick at Juice Generation who spends ten minutes giving me a list of local yoga studios and telling me about their respective vibes; The meeting folks who take me for huevos rancheros and tell me about a great under-earners anonymous meeting I might want to check out nearby …. To all of them, thank you.

And then there’s Godfrey, the higher power of my new friend Digby. “Give it to Godfrey,” Digby tells me as we’re crossing the wind tunnel walking through Union Square. “You just do the next right thing, look to be of service, and give the rest to Godfrey.” Right, right, right, right. Right. Right. And breathe in, and breathe out, repeat.

Thank you people, thank you superheroes. Thank you Godfrey, or whatever your name is. I’m gonna keep going.