Montecito Community Connect helps connect a mudslide survivor to a holiday treasure
MONTECITO, Calif. (KEYT) Montecito Community Connect on social media helped return something special to a Montecito mudslide survivor and author .
"Just the other day I happened to be on Facebook and I was scanning through and I saw a post from Montecito Connect, and that was set up after the mudslide for people to post things that they found in the mud so they could get returned to their rightful owner, and It is 8 years later and I happened to be in my own Facebook and somehow someway that link came up to my feed and I saw that a nice woman in Carpinteria was posting that she had found, after the heavy rains on the beach, a piece of a ceramic Christmas tree and she thought it could have come from the heavy rains that unearthed things from the debris flow and that very well could be the case," said Kim Cantin.
The January 9, 2018 debris flow following the Thomas Fire swept away Kim Cantin's beloved husband Dave and their 17-year-old son Jack.
First responders rescued Kim and her daughter Lauren.
Candi Kelsey Burquez had a feeling what she found would mean something so someone impacted by what happened.
"I know my late husband had a treasured ceramic tree with lights that he got from his Pepe, his grandfather, and every Christmas he would take it out and it is just amazing that it came right on the heals of Christmas that I got something from Christmas and it is just a week before the 8 year anniversary, so I think it may be a little bit of my guy saying Merry Christmas, " said Cantin.
An understated memorial next to the Montecito Inn honors the 23 lives lost.
People walking by may not realize it has stones surrounding a planter in memory of each one.
"I am so grateful for the continued compassion for this community that someone was thoughtful enough to think that it could be someone's from the mudslides, the thing that they found and took the time to post it, so the compassion of this community continues to amaze me and I am so grateful for it." said Cantin.
Cantin's courage and resolve is part of story that inspired her to write the book entitled, "Where Yellow Flowers Bloom: A True Story of Hope Through Unimaginable Loss."
