After the Fire

My whole hand used to fit in my mother’s palm. When I was sad and scared, she would squeeze me tight and say it’s all going to be all right. Now I’m 24. My parents lost everything in Northern California’s Tubbs Fire in October 2017. Both surgeons, they are strong and brave, but sometimes wake up at night in their temporary home with nightmares of the recent deadly fires. I can’t bring back their treasures or take away their stress, but I can tell them I love them and hold my mother’s hand like she once held mine. — Siena Canales