Events & news,  Home & Family

What we have

“Appreciate what you have, while you have it, or you’ll learn what it meant to you after you lose it.” ~ Frank Sonnenberg

My heart is breaking for the people who lost their homes in the Southern California wildfires. I’m in tears whenever I watch a news spot showing devastated families left with nothing but ashes, memories, and the clothes they were wearing when they had to evacuate. I wish I could do more than donate funds to help them.*

What would it be like to lose everything — your home, your entire community — in a fire? As today’s quote warns, there’s so much we take for granted until we lose it.

Like so many homeowners I know, I usually focus on what needs to be changed, repaired, or upgraded. Sometimes I complain about everything my 98-year-old house doesn’t have. Or I get crabby when it isn’t as clean or organized as I think it should be. There’s a huge home-improvement industry that keeps all of us striving for something more, something bigger, something newer, something better.

I was thinking about having a few of our rooms repainted this year. But right now, I think they look beautiful just as they are. ~CL

**World Central Kitchen is providing free meals to families and emergency workers in Southern California. It’s a reputable organization and you can learn how to donate here.

Throughout my career, I've worked as a book production editor, travel magazine editor, features writer, and weekly newspaper columnist. My award-winning lifestyles features and essays have appeared in many national magazines and anthologies, including Newsweek, Reader's Digest, The Christian Science Monitor, Writer's Digest, Victoria, Better Homes & Gardens, Bella Grace, and more. My weekly Sunday "Life Lines" column ran for 14 years in The Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, MI) and won a First Place (Local Columns) award from the Michigan Press Association. My essay collection, Writing Home, includes 93 previously published columns and essays focusing on parenthood and family life.

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