A Woman Reunited With Her Cat at the Site of Her Burned-Down House and the Video Has Unraveled Me

"NEVER LOSE HOPE!" says Courtney Werblow, who one month after the California Camp Fire began has been reunited with her family cat, Timber. Courtney, her husband, and two children lost their home and small business in the Camp Fire in November, and her parents lost their home as well. When the family was escorted to the remains of her parents' home in Paradise, CA, on Dec. 8, though the devastation must have been difficult to process, there was a glimmer of hope among the rubble — Timber, slowly trotting over to her family.

"After so much loss, this is a testimony of endurance, strength, and love," Courtney wrote on a YouTube video showing Timber coming back to her family. "Timber is a very special cat to our family. After a tree fell on my parents' rental home seven years ago, we were forced to move out and into a rental of our own (the new rental did not allow cats). At the time, her name was 'Kitty,' and was renamed Timber — what you yell when a tree is falling . . . 'Timmmberrrrr!' Get it? From this point on, Timber lived with my parents back on the property she knew as home. She is an amazing family cat and we are so happy to have her back into our arms."

In the video, Courtney spots Timber and begins to call to her, and you can hear her emotion as Timber finally approaches and begins eating from the bowl of food the family set out for her. On her Facebook post sharing the reunion video, you can practically feel Courtney's relief in the words of her caption: "She's alive."

If you'd like to help support Courtney's family during this difficult time, visit both her GoFundMe page and her parents' fundraising page.