Hello everyone,

When Lilli and Jason moved to Mishawka a few years ago, I started to write to them, my top ten list of our shared experiences together. I bogged down after finishing #7 and never finished the list. After Jason passed away, I promised Lilli that I would finish the list. This is the first one written that will be mailed to Lilli alone. This is with regret. I wish that L&J could have read the remaining six together. There is a lesson here. If there is an opportunity to bless, to love, to impact in a positive way, do it now!!! I always planned on finishing this list. I also planned on Lilli having Jason by her side to enjoy them with her. My faith in the loving goodness of God is much greater now, after this tragedy than before. I have great confidence that Lilli has the same faith in God's goodness.

God bless,

Mike

On Sunday, October 26th, 2003 at about 12:00 noon, we all stepped out of Canyon Community Church as has been the habit of Canyonites for years. I looked up at the sky. It was full of high altitude amber smoke streaming from East to West. It was at this moment that I began to have grave concerns.

The fire had started the night before. It was on the news that night and by morning as we started our drive to church, there was distinct evidence of the fire all around us.  Now, as we mingled in the church parking lot after the service, there were ominous signs above us that this may not be a run-of-the-mill fire. I do not recall the sensation of much wind at our location, but there was ample evidence of a very strong wind at higher altitudes as we observed the stream of the smoke cloud racing out towards the ocean.

By about 2:00PM, while we were at our house, my dad came by and we all discussed and shared our sketchy information of what we heard. Our biggest concern was that my dad's abode was out in the sticks about 10 miles South of Alpine. So, what should we do? Have my dad stay with us until the fire settles? Send him on his way? It was agreed by my dad, Jason and myself that we three should head out to my dad's place and be prepared to gather his valuables and transport them to a safe place if needed. So, the three males were in agreement. There were also three females that wanted input. Carolyn, Lilli, and my mom. They tried in vain to convince us that we were out-of-our-minds stupid. At this time, the whole fire was well North of I-8 and our destination was 10 miles South of I-8. So with our testosterone charged frames of mind, my dad, Jason, and I headed out in two cars to my dad's trailer. We took I-8 to Alpine, and then headed South on Tavern Rd which changed to Japatul Rd. the 10 miles to my dad's trailer. Nothing seemed to change regarding the proximity of the fire. It was miles away. After a couple of hours, it was decided that all was well at my dad's location and Jason & I started to head home.

The drive was uneventful as we approached Alpine at about 6:00 PM. As fate would have it, we would not pull into our driveway until 2:00 AM. It was on our approach to Alpine that we were aware of the intensified presence of the fire. In Alpine, we were told that I-8 was closed to westbound traffic. We were not greatly concerned. We turned around and backtracked towards the direction of my dad's place, and turned right on Dehesa Rd., which would take us through the back roads into Spring Valley. We were now functioning with a slightly elevated level of anxiety. That anxiety level quickly increased when we were stopped by a police roadblock and told to turn around. We turned around and again headed in the direction of my dad's place. It was on this drive, that we first saw burning brush about a mile to the North of us. That fire had not been there a half an hour before. We went back to my dad's and watched the news on TV. The coverage was numbing! The fire had become unbelievably huge. We watched the news for a couple of hours. We changed channels frequently because there was no single news outlet that had a handle on the whole picture. It was now nighttime and we oftentimes stepped outside to observe the red glow on the horizon. The entire northern sky from East to West was ablaze in red.

It took those two hours of careful TV viewing for us to hear of an open road that could get us home. We quickly got underway and headed East to Lyons Valley Road and turned right. At Honey Springs Road we turned left. We then turned left on Campo Road, and right on Otay Lakes Road. We were on the home stretch. From the start of this attempt, there were ever increasing ominous signs the closer we got to our destination. We were road- blocked at about 5 miles down Otay Lakes Road, just 10 miles away from home. There was a secondary fire burning down Otay Valley. A thought had settled in. It might be impossible for us to go home. When I thought through that possibility it was plainly clear to me that if it was impossible for us to get home, then, if the fire came our way, we might very well be trapped without an escape route. The shot of testosterone that we had at the beginning of this event had disappeared a long time ago. It was replaced by heavy doses of adrenaline and fear. We had no cell phones at that time, and felt cut off.  The authorities at the road block advised us that the only possible hope that we had was to back-track all the way East to Tecati by way of Campo Road and cross the border into Mexico and take Mexico 2 to Tia Juana. We traveled that route and on Mexico 2, there were flames just 1/2 a mile to our north over most of that road. We made it to TJ and then to the safety and love of our home and loved ones…at 2:00AM.

God was with us. He protected us! That is a very odd thing to say though. Was God also with those who lost everything? Yes!!! To those who believed, He was their only comfort. To those who called upon Him as they were perishing, He was there to deliver them from sheer terror to eternal peace. We were stupid and blew off the wise counsel of our wives and He cut us an undeserved break. God's most noble acts of mercy, love and compassion were not far from us that evening.

Mike