no shortage of challenges<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cThe Altadena I know and love is gone,\u201d Dowd-Figueroa said, referring to the suburb devastated by the fire. \u201cEverything burned down \u2014 my dentist, my pharmacy \u2014 all of it\u2019s gone. But there\u2019s still something about Altadena that feels like Altadena now, even though there are no homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She’s among those who decided to stay. Her process of healing started with tiny seeds that gave her hope and eventually turned her barren property into a flourishing garden.<\/p>\n
Dowd-Figueroa and her family had lived in the four-bedroom, three-bath house for 10 years. It was the longest she\u2019d ever lived in one place, and the sense of loss left her stricken by waves of sadness. <\/p>\n
For months, she would drive to the empty lot and cry. Her grief and shock deepened when she realized that, in addition to her late grandmother\u2019s artwork that was in her home, her father\u2019s ashes were gone forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent several days digging through the ashes just looking for his little urn, and I never found it,\u201d said Dowd-Figueroa, 44.<\/p>\n
Gone, too, were every family photo except those saved on her iPad. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was like a second grief, too. I was like, \u2018Well, great.\u2019 Now, if my dad knew, he\u2019d be so disappointed because he was such a family lineage type of person,\u201d she said. “I have nothing from my father. You know, I\u2019ll never touch anything that he touched ever again.”<\/p>\n
Then one day, after cleanup crews had removed the last of the debris from the 2,000-square-foot lot, she brought along some flower seeds. They were mostly sunflowers, but also included zinnias and cosmos, among others, and planted them in the soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was already going there every day crying, so I was like, \u2018Why am I just sitting here?\u2019 I might as well do something that keeps me busy, and I enjoy, because the house I\u2019m in now, I can\u2019t have a garden,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sunflowers can take up cadmium and other heavy metals that can be left behind in the soil, though experts debate their effectiveness after a wildfire. Dowd-Figueroa hoped they would help remove toxins on her property once she ripped them out by the roots and tossed them after they died, being careful not to leave behind seeds.<\/p>\n
For several months, while Dowd-Figueroa and her husband took steps toward eventually building a new home, the garden flourished, blanketing a large swath of the lot with a colorful display of approximately 500 flowers \u2014 bright orange and red ones, as well as yellow ones with giant heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really healing just to come back and tend the space where I lived for the longest time in my life,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Butterflies began to appear, along with a variety of insects and small animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was helping nature come back a little bit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Construction began on Dowd-Figueroa\u2019s new home in late September, thanks in part to around $100,000 in donations via a fundraising site. By then, the sunflowers, most of which bloom once and then die, were nearly all gone.<\/p>\n
That’s OK. With construction proceeding and estimated to be completed as soon as mid-June, the slowly emerging shape of her new home is now lifting Dowd-Figueroa\u2019s spirits. <\/p>\n
\u201cPrior to this, I was just so depressed, like literally sobbed every day,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just feels like now there\u2019s a place that exists. It will happen. We can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
__<\/p>\n
Associated Press reporter Dorany Pineda contributed from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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