Much like many of you, I am overwhelmed by the footage and reports about the numerous wildfires burning out of control around the Los Angeles area. Miles of land destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated, more than 10,000 homes incinerated, over 2 dozen lives sadly lost - so far.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is frightening, unnerving and scary. Speaking from personal experience, once the initial shock wears off and the process of treatment / healing begins, the circumstance settles in and a new reality takes hold / develops. Watching the merciless and uncontrollable flames of a fast-approaching wildfire heading toward your home (your entire neighborhood), torching everything in its widening path, is frightening, unnerving and scary. Having no personal experience with anything of this nature, I can't possibly imagine what that moment must have felt like or what the prospect of their tomorrow can be.
Various aspects of my physiology have been affected and some permanently altered as a result of my disease. Nearly every aspect of the wildfire victims' lives (homes, schools, stores, houses of worship, hospitals, etc.) have been affected by this catastrophe, and for far too many of them, their circumstance will be permanently altered.
Like apples and oranges, some of life's greatest challenges just can't be viewed side-by-side. The magnitude of the tragedy that has swept the area in and around Los Angeles is beyond comprehension or comparison.
Here's wishing safety to the residents and firefighters, and recovery to all of the victims.
