Gift for SoCal wildfire victim: Christmas with 'no worrying'
By: CHELSEA J. CARTER - Associated Press | ∞
For a few hours at the Happiest Place on Earth, Nichole Booth set aside the reality of a life devastated by the wildfires that swept through Southern California last fall.
At Disneyland there were no telephone calls to government agencies about loans, grants and other moneys to help her family rebuild the home and business they lost to one of October's disastrous blazes. There were no worries about how to care for a daughter paralyzed by brain tumors who survives on life support.
For just a few hours, Booth got her simple Christmas wish: "A day with complete peace and no guilt and no worrying."
In the months since her family members ran for their lives, taking only what they could carry, they have begun the long, slow process of rebuilding.
Just this week the Booths say they were told they will be getting a trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that they will be able to live in on their property for 18 months while, like so many other families, they attempt to rebuild their home.
This Christmas, though, Booth, her husband and their four children -- a fifth child is on the way -- will live in her father-in-law's small two-room house. And, she says, the family will give thanks for the small things she once took for granted: a Christmas tree, ornaments and gifts for the children, the latter donated by well-wishers.
Booth and her husband also are giving thanks for a few big things: Individual donations that allowed them to buy a truck to reopen their business -- and only source of income -- Booth's Pump and Crane Service.
"I know that my kids, my husband and me, and hopefully a generation of my family to come, will always remember this and will always try to do what has been done for us, forever," the Ramona woman said. "I think that makes it all worth it, maybe. There has to be something positive that comes out of all of this, right?"
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And we think we have troubles? wrote on Dec 24, 2007 1:10 PM:I wish I had known of this family for we would have been so blessed to drop of some gifts. Four children, one critically ill, lost a business and home. It doesn't get worse than that, but yet, this family isn't pouting, but dwelling on getting back to WORK and some sort of normalcy too. How can you do that after losing everything? Those of us reading this article would be hard-prssed to reply. Blessings to this family and especially to the firends and donors who have tried to infuse some hope and joy into their Christmas season Hug each other, hold on tight!
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