It’s only been a week since Melissa Rivers lost everything she owned in the Palisades fire, and while she’s still in shock, she says she’s no stranger to trauma.
“I’ve only cried twice so far,” Melissa, 56, tells PEOPLE of the terrifying experience. – One for five minutes, and the other for about twenty.
“But I’m one of those people who has gone through the experience of going to bed in one direction twice, and then you wake up with life upside down,” she notes. “First with my father [Edgar Rosenberg, who died by suicide in 1987]and then when I lost my mom [Joan Rivers].”
“I know I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other,” she adds. – There will be time to really cry later.
Melissa Rivers with her father Edgar Rosenberg before his death in 1987.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Melissa Rivers grabbed mom Joan’s Emmy, a photo of her father before the house was destroyed in the Palisades fire
Melissa first shared the news of losing her home to the wildfires in an Instagram post on January 8.
“My family and I evacuated safely and are deeply grateful to be unharmed. My heart is broken by the devastation caused by the fires, which tragically destroyed my home 💔,” she wrote. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to the brave firefighters and first responders who tirelessly risk their lives to protect our communities and save lives.”
Looking back on that devastating day, Melissa tells PEOPLE she was at home filming for QVC when her assistant and her son Cooper told her about the fires at the same time. She says she called her fiance Steve Mitchell over to the house and they started grabbing supplies for her dogs and cats and important papers.
“It’s crazy to look down and realize that everything you own in life is packed into three LL Bean Tote bags,” she says. “It’s all so surreal. I think I’m still in shock.”
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Melissa previously revealed to CNN that she was able to grab her mother’s Emmy and a photo of her father before evacuating, but that was all.
“We took everything we could and left,” she tells PEOPLE. “In hindsight, you want to say that we probably could have had more time to come to an agreement, but in the moment we did exactly what we should have done, which was to just go. Because when they say go, you go. Don’t stay and hope for a garden spray. hoses on your lawn or on your roof. You’re just bothering the emergency services that have to go there, and you could end up being part of the problem.”
The TV personality, who was staying at a friend’s house (after having to evacuate the first two places she sought refuge), says she regrets not taking a few more sentimental items.
“My mom’s favorite sweater. I had hers and my dad’s dressing gown,” she explains. “Everybody’s like, ‘What about her wardrobe?’ But it’s like I lost the only three of their things that I kept in the house because they reminded me so much of them.”
Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers attend the 2014 NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfronts at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on May 15, 2014 in New York City.
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
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Melissa, who is set to marry Mitchell in a few months, now doesn’t know what her next move will be. “I have no idea about anything right now,” she says.
“My only concern right now is settling into a new place and getting out of our friend’s hair, getting the animals back together,” she continues. “And I find that checking in on other people and comforting other people helps. Maybe I’m just trying not to deal with reality, but it still helps.”
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As for where she finds her strength, Melissa says she learned it from her late parents.
“I am my parents’ daughter,” she says. “Our family motto was from Winston Churchill: ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’ I’ll have time to waver later. I know it will hit me at some point, but right now I don’t have time to hit it myself.”
She adds: “And thank God I have a dark sense of humor because I make everyone around me laugh, including myself. That’s my superpower.”
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Source: HIS Education