Michael Cohen

And we both kind of chuckled because we were like, six months after the fire, you will still be mired in a thousand governmental agencies,

And we were in the midst of those, not in a place or position where we could speak to with perspective what was working, what wasn't working.

What can we do?

And so we reframed it more as like things we wish we had done or known better or practiced before the fire.

Something everyone can read before any disaster happens, here are some really actionable steps that you can take and we hope you never have to deal with them.

There are many things you can and should do to prepare for a disaster, like making an evacuation plan and packing a go-bag.

You can read Gregory and Mike's advice in their article from July, linked in our show notes.

But there are some lessons they've learned that they never could have seen coming.

To understand those lessons, we need to head back in time to get to know these guys a little better, to hear how they came to live in Altadena and what they lost.

Gregory and his wife, Emily, never thought they'd be able to afford a home in Los Angeles.

They're both freelance writers.

Gregory covers design and has written for places like Dwell and Apartment Therapy.

So he was always looking at beautiful houses and thinking, wow, wouldn't it be incredible if I could own my own home someday?

He and his wife wanted something surrounded by trees, a true oasis.

In 2021, Gregory's mom got sick.

After she died, he was devastated.

He and his sister had to navigate managing her affairs.

They ended up selling her home.

And suddenly, it seemed he and Emily could afford a down payment on a house of their own.

And they started their search in Altadena.