This weekend marks the anniversary of our complete life change. One year ago, the Cameron Peak Fire took our home and the homes of a dozen more neighbors. When the weather turned a week later, snow blanketed the region. Our evacuation order was lifted a few days after that. That’s when we got our first look at the devastation.

It’s been an emotional week for many of us who lost everything. Even those who survived are experiencing some PTSD. A handful of are rebuilding. One family, fittingly enough, received their Certificate of Occupancy this week and can move back onto the mountain. The community is slowly rebuilding, but it will never be the same as before the fire.

Our progress is glacial. We are (still) waiting for our estimates and can’t move forward without them. In the meantime, we take it one day at a time and try not to lose our minds.