The rampaging wind and firein southern California are a continent away and while terribly, terribly tragic, don't seem to affect us much in our quiet community. At least not until we realize that at least one of our own and his family have already been displaced by the fireand will probably lose their home and possessions in the blaze.

Jarvis Gresham, a 1989 W-WCHS graduate and son of Elizabeth Hill of Washington, is a San Diego police officerand EMT. His home is in Spring Valley, California, where, until Tuesday morning, he lived with his wife, Nancy, and their four children, Shauna, Demarcus, Brittney, and Chris. Jarvis and Demarcus were the last to leave in the evacuation, taking with them important personal papers and documents and only the few other items they could handle. They could see the firefrom the deck on the back of their home - it was 30 miles closer than it had been the day before. Nancy's sister had already lost her house in the fire.

Without a doubt, there are others in our Washington-Wilkes family that are also directly affected by the California fire. The Greshams we know about because his mother called.

For all of them we offer first our prayers because we know of their power, and praying is something we all can do. Beyond that we can offer whatever we have to help them survive now, rebuild later, and ultimately thrive again. Right now, it's just a matter of getting through each day, but as their needs arise, we hope they know their Wilkes County family is ready to offer hearts and hands to see them through.