A love gone up in flames
So it seems the horrible wildfires in San Diego County aren’t done with us yet. They’ve claimed more victims than we knew. In the ashes of neighborhoods and fields, crews are finding bodies of those who didn’t get out in time. Among them, a former classmate of mine.
We were acquaintances only, fellow hippies when it was still socially unacceptable to be anti-war and shun undergarments. We had some classes together, chorus and drama, two years in a row. I saw her around town a few times years after graduation, but we never spoke. I don’t even recall if she was at our 10th reunion or not. If we crossed paths any time in the past 20 years, we didn’t recognize each other.
Still, it’s an uncomfortable feeling thinking of her death. I remember her as she was in 1970, a pretty blonde hippie chick, but even reminding myself that she was my age doesn’t make it any less tragic. Fiftyish is still young. And any age is too young to die by fire.
Her husband, whose body was also found, had been her high school boyfriend. I have no idea if they stayed together all those years, or like Bret and me, met again years later and got married. Either way, it’s a safe bet he was the love of her life and they’d planned on many more years together. Because their bodies were found near their garage, it’s assumed they were attempting a last-minute escape when the fire overtook them. Why they waited so long, too long, will never be known. I fervently hope they were both already dead before the flames reached them. Dental records were required to identify the charred remains.
I firmly and absolutely believe in reincarnation, and have no doubt that Vicky and Chris will live again, and love again. But tonight, I’m going to be wrapped around Bret like a tourniquet. Because you just never know how much time you’ve got left.
[tags]SoCal fires, Firestorm 2007, love like there’s no tomorrow[/tags]
October 26th, 2007 at 7:36 am
that is so incredibly heartbreaking. :(
and you are right, we never know how much time we have left.
October 26th, 2007 at 9:59 am
I, too, remember Vicky, her sister Sandy and, of course, younger brother Ken, who was my younger brother’s best friend for years. Putting a face on this tragedy not only makes it more real, it also makes it more frightening. I hope we all learn the right lessons from this time and realize that we never know how short our time with our loved ones might be. Love you, Sweetie.
October 26th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Whoa. We hear about death on the news all the time and I didn’t realize how callous I’d become to it. Prior to reading this, I thought “six, that’s not bad considering the magnitude of these fires,” but your experience was a wake-up call to remind me that any untimely death is a tragedy.
October 27th, 2007 at 6:40 am
I am so sorry to hear ab out this and it is sad indeed. Gosh, it makes all of this tragedy around us hit even closer to home.
And yes, we need to love like there is no tomorrow…always.