They lost their dream home in the San Diego fires this week but found something in the rubble that restored their spirits and lifted the community of Carlsbad as well.

The letter, left anonymously and taped to a shovel standing in their charred front yard, encouraged the family not to give up and to rise from the ashes.

The letter, signed GB, contained the following words:

"We cannot escape the tragedies that arise in our lives. We can search for a reason and ask - why? Maybe we could hold others at fault or imagine what life would be had this not happened, but perhaps what defines our character is not our struggles but how well we meet them and rise up after getting knocked down."

"Losing everything we own is sad, but the things we own do not diminish who we are inside. Sometimes the worst situation brings out the best in us and others."

"When you put together a jigsaw puzzle made of hundreds of pieces, you put it together one piece at a time. No one can go back and change what has happened, but we can all start today and make a new tomorrow, one shovel at a time, one day at a time."

GB

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