Being Inspired: Six Years Later

By Marina and Kevin Krim

On another anniversary of the terrible day we lost Lulu and Leo, we wanted to share some thoughts inspired by scenes we saw this past summer in Sonoma, California. In the fall of 2017, thousands of acres of trees, entire neighborhoods and too many lives were destroyed in the most devastating fire California has ever seen. Our hearts were breaking at the time but we felt helpless and very far away.

Seeing the devastation up close nine months later conjured a lot of emotions for us. We instantly thought of Lulu and Leo, our relationship with them now and how we’ve learned to approach life without them.

The sea of dead trees sitting quietly up on the hillside was dramatic. It looked like a deserted war zone. No matter how strong the trees were, they didn’t stand a chance against that vicious fire. Now the trees stood bare, their twisted trunks and branches, turned to charcoal, standing tall against the sky. Touching them, we were surprised how strong and solid they still were. And among the black and grey silhouettes were small patches of colorful new life sprouting up from the soil. It was awful, sad and depressing, and at the same time, stunningly beautiful and peaceful.

These trees while living had such strength and solidity that their charred forms will remain like scars for many, many years on these hills. Though it will be decades before the new growth reaches up over the burned skeletons, the green shoots we saw will grow into new trees, the flowers will come back again and again.

Lulu and Leo, stunning when they were alive and still so powerful in our hearts and minds, have shown us how to see this beauty in the world — even in the midst of brutal loss and painful scars — that life can still be breathtaking and inspiring, that there has to be hope when facing the worst in life, and that death isn’t an end.

Lulu and Leo, we love you and miss you!