My name is Blythe Gering and I am currently a junior at Deerfield Academy. Before heading east for boarding school, I was raised in–and still lived in—the Pacific Palisades. I grew up climbing the Fire Truck at Pali Park, eating cheese pizza and coloring in the kids’ menu at Beach Street, sitting in the corner of the library reading Pinkalicious, walking our dogs by the bluffs, going to the farmers’ market every Sunday, attending the Christmas Mass at Corpus Christi Church, and wearing different colored jerseys every year for my AYSO or Pali Extra soccer team. These are just some of the recurring memories and frequent moments I spent alongside so many others.

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That all changed on January 8th, 2025 when the Palisades Fire destroyed our home. It wasn’t just my house that was reduced to ashes, it was all the places that I ever knew, and that I ever loved. When news started circulating that our entire block was burned, and then our entire neighborhood, and then our entire town, I was left feeling hopeless from afar–trying to hold onto as many memories as I could, before they went up in smoke. 

 

As soon as I knew my family was safe, that relief was soon offset by a flood of worry, fear, and sadness…all the things I had ever kept, earned, made, won had vanished. I would never see or touch them again. My baby blankets, soccer medals, yearbooks, polaroids, family heirlooms, photo albums, necklaces—all of it—gone. 

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Except for a Ziploc.

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This seemingly meaningless possession would soon become one of my last, and only, tangible reminders of home, a place that now only exists in memory. I started What Remains to collect and share the stories of people who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire, using their surviving keepsakes to unite, remember, and create a shared experience.

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No one’s sense of home should be forgotten after disaster—and What Remains is here to highlight relics of the past to spark connection and healing.