"Nine years. Mother, you can never have too much glitter! I laughed as I remembered Chelsea telling me that. She was putting the finishing touches on a middle school art project, and I was lecturing her on moderation, especially when it came to glitter. Nearly nine years have passed since the tragic Ghost Ship fire. Thirty-six colorful friends including my daughter having a good time were caught off-guard."
"I was cleaning out my garage again, a never-ending chore that usually involves a reorganization of my priorities. While pulling some of Chelsea's papers off a high shelf, a flurry of glitter flew into the air and covered me in a glimmering rainbow. If you know glitter, you know I'd be digging the stuff out of my hair, skin and clothes for weeks. Just the same, it made me smile. And then something wonderful happened."
"The Bottom of the Hill Club in San Francisco was covered in shimmering color; and Chelsea and Travis were warned that if they didn't clean up the mess themselves, they would never be invited back to perform. Dozens of their friends got to work after the show and happily pitched in to make the place glitter-free. It was a glitter party! And that memory also made me smile."
Nine years have passed since the Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 people, including the mother's daughter. The mother remembers her daughter telling her 'never have too much glitter' while finishing a middle school art project. Cleaning the garage released a flurry of glitter from saved papers, covering the mother and shifting memories from screams and fire to a joyful concert confetti moment. A concert at Bottom of the Hill filled the room with shimmering color, prompted communal cleanup after a glitter shower, and left a glitter party memory that brings comfort. The mother keeps her daughter's clothes and objects in the garage as a small memorial that redirects grief toward light and joy.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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