Los Angeles is on fire.

I spent Wednesday watching as my city burned around me, compulsively checking my friends’ addresses in the Watch Duty app, holding my breath as each new update came through, and telling out-of-town friends and family that I was fine. I’m in the city; Silverlake isn’t in any real danger beyond smoke and ash. I was lucky; I am lucky.

Then, Runyon Canyon caught, and suddenly, maybe I wasn’t fine. I decided to pack a bag and make a plan, just in case an errant ember landed in Griffith Park and the dry hills above my neighborhood caught.

So I found the important documents: my passport, social security card, and birth certificate (honestly, it was a small miracle that I even knew where these things were). I packed up my computer and most of my camera gear. I pulled down the cat carriers and packed up a weekend’s worth of supplies for Big Boy, BBGirl Gollum, and Tajin.

And then I stood in my apartment and tried to condense my life into what would fit into my last suitcase. What couldn’t I live without? What would I mourn the most if I lost it? How do you choose what you take when you might never come back? I don’t know, but this is what I came up with.

What I Packed:

1x Varsity Jacket, GlenOak High School, 2008
4x Archival Film Binders, filled with almost two decades’ worth of negatives
1x Custom Wooden Urn filled with Skully’s ashes, my first cat in Los Angeles and the best girl
1x Custom Photo Album of Skully
1x Black Cat Jewelry Box filled with Bucky’s ashes, the best little scaredy cat.
1x Wooden Paw Print Ornament, Bucky
1x Photo frame and photo of Scout, my first dog
1x Custom watercolor card, painted by my grandmother and inscribed by my late grandfather
1x Booty, a black-footed ferret stuffed animal that my Dad gave me when I was roughly 3/4 years old
6x Photo Albums, including my late Aunt Linda and Uncle Denny’s wedding album
1x Box of Polaroids
1x Binder of Letters—if you ever wrote me a letter or birthday card, it is likely in this binder.
2x Baseball Gloves—originally my Dad’s, purchased in the 70s
2x Baseballs—inside gloves
1x 2016 Cleveland Indians World Series Ticket, framed
2x Cleveland Indians Championship Pennants, 1x 1948 World Series, 1x 1954 ALCS
6x Notebooks/Journals
1x Framed Photo of my best friends
1x Jewelry Box—including hand-me-downs from my mom, a gift for being my best friend’s made-of-honor, and a costume pendant that belonged to my grandmother.
3x Vintage Cameras—one was my first camera, stolen from my dad

In the end, it didn’t matter. Silverlake is safe. I am safe. I have unpacked my things, and I hope I didn’t curse myself, as we have more high winds in the forecast. I am so incredibly grateful that I was never in any direct danger. But so many of my neighbors, thousands and thousands of people, have lost everything. They left their homes and will never be able to go back.

I have been so moved by my community; Los Angeles has rallied so hard and so fast for each other. Donation sites are turning away volunteers because they have too many, they have stopped accepting clothes because people have given so much. Every coffee shop in my neighborhood has had a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Fire Department or organized a donation drop. Los Angeles is taking care of its own, and I love it so much.

From what I can tell, the most needed things are hygiene items, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, tampons, pads, diapers, adult and baby, wet wipes, and paper products like paper towels and toilet paper. But more than anything, cash is king. These families and businesses will need money to rebuild. Below are a few links to master lists of GoFundMe's that you can donate to directly, and I will donate any paid subscriptions to one of these families at the end of the month.