What to save as you flee

What would you take if your life depended on it? Five minutes. Two minutes. A fire is sweeping toward your home, and whatever you can carry may be all you get to keep. What do you grab? It’s an unsettling question.

Not as unsettling as the flames that destroyed thousands of houses in California’s wildfires. Not even close.

But a question that makes you think. ...

The New York Times ran a video recently with testimonies from victims of those fires, already the deadliest in California’s history, dozens killed and entire neighborhoods reduced to ash. At some point, these residents all beat a hasty departure. The Times asked what they salvaged.

“I gathered my guitars … family photo albums that my wife had kept for many years … and then the cat,” said one Napa resident. “And that was it.” ...

Ask yourself what is really essential. What would you truly miss? I bet it’s only a fraction of what is there. But even a fraction can be beyond our ability to save.

I suppose I’d take memories: things that could not be replaced with a newer version. Photos. Childhood drawings. Things my parents or grandparents gave me. Wedding mementos. But then you think of documents: deeds, wills, ownership papers. Then one-of-a-kind books. Then the guitar you played as a kid.

What we carry. What we leave behind. We can only sympathize with those having to make such difficult choices, and pray that if we ever find ourselves in such a position, our values guide us wisely.