Receiving help, rather than being on the giving end - Grissom children experience the opposite of the norm

Deana and Billy Grissom raised their children to give to those less fortunate.

Every year at Thanksgiving, their daughter, Rebecca, a fifth grade student at La Paloma, and son, Brandon, a third grade student at Maie Ellis, go through their toys and games and set aside a pile to donate to local shelters and thrift shops. This week, both children learned a valuable lesson: what it is like to receive from others.

The Grissom family, who live in an apartment on Old Stage Road, spent four days and nights as evacuees in the Red Cross shelter at the Community Recreation Center in Temecula during the Fallbrook (Rice Canyon) Fire.

Among the first of many evacuees to leave Fallbrook Monday afternoon, the Grissoms and their two dogs, Malibu and Daisy, arrived at the shelter with only a limited amount of personal belongings.

Deana, a funeral director for Berry, Bell & Hall, had nothing but compliments on the way the evacuation of Fallbrook and its schools were handled.

“I can’t say enough about how the school district handled the evacuation of the students,” she says. “Everything was extremely organized; no one panicked; everyone knew what to do; and they all had the students’ best interest and safety as their number one priority.”

The Grissoms spent the remainder of the week learning what it is like to be on the receiving end of prayers, donations and help from people.

The experience has meant a great deal to the family – so much that 10-year-old Rebecca is writing a story of her experience at the shelter. During the days she spent there, she took photos of workers as well as businesses donating food and supplies. She carried around paper, taking notes and adding to her list names and addresses of those individuals she met. Both children plan to write thank you notes to as many of those people as they can.

On Friday, the family received a coupon for a complimentary pet wash. They took Malibu and Daisy to Laundrymut in Temecula and had a great time cleaning up their dogs. Afterward, they returned to Fallbrook via Highway 76 through Bonsall.

“It was very spooky,” said Deana. “My husband was following in his car with our daughter and my son was with me. It really hit me hard when my 8-year-old son saw the burnt homes, with nothing left but chimneys, and asked where those people were going to live.”

Reflecting on the experience, Deana said, “We are very glad to be home and we are very thankful that the only damage we have had is wind damage. As for our experience at the shelter, I have to say everyone there was absolutely awesome. They truly made the best of the worst situation.”