The story Jennifer Magallon tells is this: The morning after Jan. 7, walking up to the unrecognizable ruin of her home, among fallen trees and chunks of rubble, ash in the air, feeling like she could fall to her knees in disbelief, something she saw kept her on her feet.

There, in the front courtyard of their home on Altadena Drive, was the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “sitting upright, surrounded by ashes and realizing she survived 80-100 mph winds and trees had fallen, it was a moment of peace, grace, and divine love letting me know we will survive.”

Magallon, 53, her husband George, 56, and their children Sophia, 24, and Diego, 20 would recount that day to a crowd of thousands at the OneLife LA event at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, 11 days after losing their home. In front of Archbishop Jose Gomez and other church leaders, Magallon said for how often she prayed to the Virgin Mary through the years, this time “she came to me before I even asked.”

That statue has not left the family’s side since. Not while they lived with George’s mother at Atwater Village right after the fire, and not now, when they have found a new base in Palm Springs.

“Emotionally it’s still very difficult for us to see our community and home gone,” said Magallon, an aesthetician. “Although I do go to Pasadena to work two days a week at my studio, I find it easier to heal here in the desert. But we can’t wait to be back in Altadena.”

The Magallons will still play host to a Mother’s Day brunch as they did in years past. This time, everyone will troop to Palm Springs. It’s bittersweet. She will love hearing the laughter and smell the food cooking. But the place is not the same.

It will be at least two years until they can rebuild and return.

“I only left with a few photos that were on my mantle,” Magallon said. “Those are the only physical memories I have now. We really did lose everything. I’m often asked what I regret not bringing and my answer is always the same: my children’s photos and gifts and Christmas ornaments that they made me throughout the years.”

Any gift Sophia and Diego made in school, their mother kept: the handprints in plaster, every card. Macaroni necklaces and popsicle art.

“Now I only have my memory,” she said.

She shares a photo of the young family celebrating Diego’s birthday. The painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe that hangs in an ornate frame behind them was also lost to the fire.

Reminders of what they’ve lost comes and goes, sparked by a question, “Where is that?” or an occasion like Mother’s Day.

“This has taught us the only important thing in life is God, our faith and family,” Magallon said.

She and George are trying to see the possibilities after their loss.

While planning their rebuild, they decided to keep the exterior of their home exactly as it was before the fire. They will bring their Mama Mary statue to the same spot it occupied on a built-in shelf in their courtyard. Of all her titles, “mother” is how this family knows her best.

“Her love continues to bless us,” Magallon said. “She’s given us a home and health and a sense of safety in our new surroundings.”