The wildfires that have been spreading through Northern California are nothing short of devastating. Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and have lost everything, and they're often the lucky ones.
There have been several confirmed deaths in the wildfires, and the areas hit by them now look more like uninhabitable wastelands than residential areas. It's an incredibly sad scene, especially when coupled with the stories coming from the survivors.
An especially sad story has been the one of 9-year-old Loren Jade Smith; a kid who has been a massive fan of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. He had collected tons of baseball cards, 17 jerseys, 10 hats, and a signed ball, all from the team over the past six years. We say "had," because like many of his family's possessions, they were lost when their house was consumed by the fires.
Faced with having lost his most prized possessions, Loren penned a letter to the team that soon went viral on the internet, and had other fans reaching for their wallets.
The whole situation is surprisingly touching...
Loren's letter to the team was completely adorable, and it instantly won the hearts of the internet.
If you can't decipher his tiny child handwriting, the letter reads;
"To the Oakland A's:
I love watching your A's games. I want to be an A's player and I play at Mark West Little League in Santa Rosa. I played baseball in my backyard all day loving the A's and making up my own game. In my backyard they won six World Series in a row. But my house burned down in the Santa Rosa fire and my saddest things was my baseball collection cards, my 17 jerseys and 10 hats and my baseball from the game and also a ball signed by the whole team and Rickey Henderson and Bob Melvin. My brother and me have so much fun but he is only 9 months old. I am teaching him how to throw balls. I have every single A's card from 2000 to now but I am 9-years-old. I had a major league baseball and it all burned up. So sad. I know you are not all together but hope they get this.
By Loren"
Not willing to let this young kid have his passion ruined by this tragedy, members of the Oakland A's, other teams, and even fans have all been chipping into help Loren out.
Loren seems to be in pretty good spirits about the whole thing.
It's always nice to see generosity and kindness in the face of tragedy.