What the Fires Taught Us About Neighbors
1. In the midst of the flames, the idea of “community” stopped being abstract. It became neighbors knocking on doors, strangers offering rides, and shared silence in evacuation centers where no one needed to explain their fear. The crisis erased lines we didn’t realize we were drawing—between busy lives, closed doors, and polite distance.
2. We learned that community isn’t built in meetings or slogans. It forms in urgency, in the instinct to help before being asked. In moments when there’s nothing to gain, only something to protect: each other.
3. The fires also revealed a quieter truth. Long after the headlines faded, community showed up again—in borrowed tools, shared meals, and patience for grief that didn’t follow a schedule. Recovery wasn’t loud. It was steady.
