The recent events have stuck with me. It brings back memories. Memories of a devastating earthquake when I lived in Santa Monica.

I had just bought my first condominium near the Brentwood area of Santa Monica. I was just off of Montana Avenue, a few blocks from the beach. I was single, had worked many years as a dental hygienist and was also a struggling actress. I was so excited that I was finally a homeowner.

I bought my condominium in December of 1993, one month before the "Northridge Earthquake".

It was just after the new year in 1994. It was a little past four in the morning and I remember my little dog Chelsea Belle waking me up. She always slept in my bed with me and I just remember her being very needy and waking me up and then a mere seconds later.....

I felt what a train coming would feel like........but I was not near any train tracks....

I heard a rumbling in the distance and knew something was wrong.

It was only seconds, from when my dog woke me to feeling to hearing and then I only remember holding my dog in my arms as I bounced high in the air and landed back in my bed and all I heard was glass crashing and furniture crumbling.

I immediately thought that I needed to get out of my condo. I felt very vulnerable. I think the first aftershock was within a few minutes.

I knew something devastating had just happened.

I had my dog, still in my left arm, close to my chest, and I proceeded to try to exit my condominium. I started to walk and then soon realized that my feet were being cut with glass so I needed to crawl. I remember thinking that it was better if my knees and calves got cut than the bottom of my feet.

I finally made it from my bedroom to my living room and it was so dark. Pitch black dark. I was on my hands and knees with my sweet Chelsea in the crook of my left arm and I was trying to feel my way out.

The things that blocked me, I could not make out. I was feeling furniture pieces in the dark while I was in the living room and I did not realize that some of the broken pieces actually came from my dining room.

My feet were hurting me and now, my knees were starting to get cut also.

It was so dark.

So completely black.

My eyes were opened but they might as well have been closed.

I was trying to crawl to where I thought my front door would be.

I heard my neighbor (Dan) right outside my door. He was yelling for me.

I was yelling back.........

"Please come get me!!! I can't get out!!!"

He told me that my door was bolted shut and he couldn't get me........he said I needed to keep trying..........I needed to get to the door.

It seemed like forever.

I felt wood and glass and debris in the darkness and couldn't figure out where I was. Nothing made sense.

I kept heading to where my door should be.

I kept heading for Dan's voice.

Finally, I felt the door handle, and I unbolted my door.

I was exhausted and crying and collapsed in his arms. He took me to the street, away from buildings and we heard so many explosions. I think it was gas tanks exploding.

We sat outside with everyone else for a few hours until the sun finally came up.

Chelsea was shaking in my arms. She was incredibly nervous.

There was after-shock after after-shock.

It is very hard to talk about.....still.

I actually got classic symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. I came so close to dying.

The "Northridge" earthquake was actually a "rolling" earthquake that jumped up and down the earth's service and my neighborhood happened to be a bump in the journey.

Many homes were "red-tagged" - meaning condemned and absolutely no entrance was allowed ..... or buildings were "yellow-tagged" - meaning restricted entry but still dangerous.

My building was yellow-tagged.

I remember being told that I needed to go to FEMA in Santa Monica on 4th street. I went there, with my dog still in my arms (she shook for weeks), and I was completely taken aback by what this country has to offer when one is faced with such a disaster.

FEMA got all of my information, sent out an inspector and helped me re-build.

So many people complained "I only got $25.00 for my television from FEMA!" and I only thought about how much FEMA added up for all of my destroyed goods and how amazing it was that they helped me so much. FEMA gave me over $9,000.00 for my personal disaster. Granted, it ended up costing me over $150,000 (I had not yet bought insurance for my condo thinking I would get it in due time) but the FEMA money helped me tremendously and I was so grateful.

SBA (Small Business Administration) also gave loans up to $10,000.00 for people who were affected by the disaster and I gladly took them up on it. I still pay $44.00 per month for that loan. It was only 3.5% interest and was a huge help.

This government did not owe me anything. I was so completely humbled by the generosity of those around me.

I remember waiting in the FEMA line and Red Cross volunteers were handing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bottled water. I sat with my dog in my arms and cried while I ate that sandwich.

I could not believe my life had come to this.

A Red Cross and government hand-out after going so far.

This is a long story, but one I needed to tell.

I love this country and everything it has given to me. I am so completely grateful of the handouts of others in my time of need.


I would like to donate money to UNICEF. That is what touches my heart right now - the children in SE Asia after the tsunami.

Over 1/3 of those killed in the tsunami were children and over 100,000 children are left homeless.

Tens of thousands of children are orphans now - tens of thousands!

I will donate one dollar for every comment in the next 48 hours (if getupgrrl links me, I may need to borrow from my husband!), all you have to do is comment - I don't care if you just type "donate".

May God Bless all those hurting.