Heather Lucas

Our homes are like members of our family and they are filled with countless sentimental items gifted to us by extended family and friends over our entire lifetimes. We all know what it's like to pull an item out of the cupboard and pause to smile and think about the person who gifted it to us.

In meeting with Heather just a few days after the Pacific Palisades fire took her family’s lovely Hartzell home, we were talking about the sentimental items she wasn’t able to grab as they evacuated. Heather's daughter Annabelle June is named after her Dad’s mother, “Grandma June” whom Heather adored. When I first met Heather 20+ years ago she would often talk about visiting Grandma June in Burbank (and doing laundry there!) on the weekends. Heather woke up in the middle of the night realizing she no longer had Grandma June’s china - she thought about the gravy boat and crystal cranberry sauce bowl that would no longer be a family heirloom.

Heather and Spencer have been married a long time, but she still would think about her mom’s friend Carol (who has since passed) when she pulled out the lovely platter Carol gifted them at their wedding. Or the aprons and bbq tools that her college girls all chipped in to give them.

Heather and Spencer are fortunate - they will be able to rebuild their lives, but their lives deserve to be filled with items that remind them of all the love and support that surrounds them. We've encouraged them to put together a registry so that over time their friends and family can help give them new memories to smile about when they open the cupboards or look up at a shelf. As I got ready this morning, I opened my cosmetic bag - gifted to me by Heather - and took my wedding ring off a plate also gifted to me by Heather. I can’t wait for the day that Spencer, Heather, Annie and Harry have a new home filled with items that remind them of each of you. Thanks for all your love and support.