A Time to Be Thankful…is now!
Imagine being awoken in the middle of the night by your neighbor banging on your door. Banging on the door to warn you about the devastating fire that is about to burn through.
For Leslie Jordan, who lives next to Trione-Annadel State Park, this was her reality on October 9. While fires were burning near the park and homes were being destroyed, her first priority was her children’s safety. Jordan’s children, Hudson, (8) Juliet, (5) Luke (2) and she voluntarily evacuated from her home while her husband, Tom stayed back to work at the hospital in Santa Rosa.
While heading south to San Francisco, Jordan saw the devastation unfolding rapidly. The images and stories the news stations were airing, was not truly showing the desperate need of help. The family stopped at a few local stores for shoes, clothes, toothbrushes and other necessities. “I pulled him (Luke) out of bed with no shoes!” said Jordan. With not knowing how long they would be gone or what they would need, they made sure to stay positive.
Landing in Truckee and staying at their family cabin of 30 years, it became their new home for the next 10 days. A friend of Jordan, who owns Calistoga Fit, (Thank you, Calistoga Fit!) held a free boot camp for evacuees. Kids were able to run around and get some energy out, while parents worked out and released some stress. After the class, strangers became friends and friends became family and everyone gathered together and talked about their experience. “It gave me strength to be around others in the same situation, so I started an Evacuee Group for the area. Within a few hours there were over 61 members!” says Jordan.
The family also spent time at the Tahoe Donner Fall Family Festival and enjoyed seeing friends from high school and their families while taking walks in their Tahoe Donner neighborhood.
Hudson (8), Juliet (5) and Luke (2) in Truckee.
They also got to spend time at The Kidzone Museum with free admission for evacuees– YAY KIDZONE!) They were overwhelmed with gratitude of the kindness they encountered during this tragic time.
Luke playing at The Kidzone Museum.
The family is back home and safe and their home was not damaged. Jordan realizes how truly lucky she and her family are that they had a place like Truckee to stay for a while. Most people, a lot of people do/did not have a place to go to. Over 3 dozen of Jordan’s friends did lose their homes and she tells Tahoe Kidz the stories of survival are unbelievable and “the First Responders are our heroes!”
“Santa Rosa is strong, and the community has risen up like no other! You really get a feeling that “everyone is in this together.” We will rebuild, we will be strong, and we will continue the love for this town and all its people.” Jordan shares.
The Jordan Family.
Jordan and her family are truly thankful for their community as well as the embrace from Truckee and its residents. Kindness matters, not just in times of need, but always. That is what Truckee is and what Truckee is about!
For details on helping out victims of the wildfires, please check out ABC7’s resource list of places to volunteer or donate. Thank you to the Joran family for sharing their story, here at TahoeKidz, we send our thoughts and prayers to all the victims that have suffered loss in anyway due to the fires.
Written By: Fawn Mansoor
Editors Note: A special thank you to The Jordan Family for sharing their story with us and to Fawn for taking the time to write this. Thoughts and prayers to all the victims of the fires. If there are any writers that would like to write for us, please contact Ally at tahoekidzally@gmail.com.
