The gravity of losing mementos was not lost on John Mayer, who took to Instagram on Thursday to share an eloquent statement about the importance keepsakes play in our lives.
John, who made it clear that he and his Los Angeles home are safe from the fires, shared a photo of a folder. The folder, he said, held pictures that he has collected of his father. John shared in October 2023 that his dad was celebrating his 96th birthday that year.
“This is the most valuable thing I own,” he wrote, noting the photos spanned his father’s life from infancy to adulthood. “It’s the only evidence of his life that will exist over time.”
He then turned his attention to the fires and the items people lost in them. “These are the ‘documents’ you read about people taking from their homes,” he wrote. “When you hear someone say they’ve lost everything in a fire, this is much of that everything, if not all of it. Those who say they’ll be okay still have their folders and their albums. Those who are inconsolable have lost them.”
“Just behind the immeasurable loss of life is the loss of the proof of life,” he continued.
The singer noted he does not pray but would do so that evening for people who’ve lost their beloved keepsakes. He said that losing one’s home isn’t about “art” or “collectibles” that have been destroyed. It’s about the personal items that connect us to the things and people we love.
“It’s the photos, the letters, the class rings, the eyeglasses and the things we keep to remind us that those we loved were here,” he wrote. “May those who have lost so much find some semblance of hope and support from their family and friends.”
John ended his post by encouraging people to safeguard one another.
“Stay safe, look out for yourself and for one another, and trust that humanity and all it entails, though sometimes hard to see, is alive and well. This is truly devastating,” he said.
She thanked him for “putting this into perspective” and noted that mementos were some of the first things she packed in her evacuation kit, including “Bob’s glasses, a lot of his clothes and personal effects that I know are completely irreplaceable.”
Andy Cohen, a close friend of John’s, also commented. “Beautifully said. we are all with a lump in our heart for friends and strangers dealing with immeasurable loss,” he wrote.
Questlove noted his mom’s side of his family lost their “entire history.” He encourages people to “grab the mementos” because “that feeling of incompleteness occasionally shows its head.”
Singer JP Saxe praised John’s post as a “beautiful sentiment and stunningly written.”
Finally, singer Paul Klein, a member of the band LANY, said he grabbed a guitar John gave him when packing up. “I had 3 minutes to get out last night. i grabbed my safe and the guitar u gave me 😭,” he wrote.
You can view John’s full Instagram post here and resources to help people impacted by the Los Angeles fires here.
