Ali Riley of Angel City lost her childhood home to the wildfires. Her marriage became an ‘oasis’

Ali Riley will never forget her wedding day. And the reasons for that have nothing to do with his vows.

Five days before Riley was to be married in Ventura County, her parents were removed from her childhood home in Pacific Palisades. By the time he should have double-checked the details with the caterer and the florist, he had been monitoring the progress of the fire from above to his old home in the afternoon.

Three hours after John Riley and Bev Lowe left the home they’d lived in for more than four decades, the house was gone – as was everything else on Kagawa Street, once a pristine strip of open houses but now a place where only memories remain. .

“At the time of the wedding, we already knew,” said Lowe about the fate of his family.

However, much that the fire took physically, marriage gave back emotionally and spiritually.

“When the sad news continued, our neighbors would say ‘well, at least we have a wedding,'” added Ali Riley. “I asked my mother if they would be very sad and she said ‘No, we need this.’ We had a lot of people who had lost everything there with borrowed clothes and mismatched shoes.”

“Everybody’s happy,” added John Riley. “There were a number of people there who lost their homes. [But] everyone was very happy. That helped a lot. It really happened.”

Ali Riley is among the world’s most decorated women’s footballers, having played in five World Cups and captained the New Zealand national team – her father’s birthplace – a record 50 times. He also plays in the NWSL for Angel City, so he’s been pretty solid for a long time, if nothing else.

Still, just thinking about her marriage to Swedish soccer player Lucas Nilsson brings tears of both joy and sadness less than a week later.

“We sent the last dates in May. So we have been planning for some time,” he said. “And many people came. It just felt like this low place in the middle of hell.

“So, everything… was perfect.”

The night before the fire started, Ali Riley, who lives in Canoga Park, had driven over the hill to have dinner with her parents, then spent part of the night on a rooftop overlooking the ocean. About 12 hours later, his parents’ cell phones lit up with eviction notices.

“We’ve actually done this before so we’ve gone through the practice,” Lowe said.

But those other times were just that: the drill; the flame didn’t really get close and the couple was able to get back quickly. As Lowe and her husband were packing this time, they expected the same. The fire was gone, the wind was blowing in another direction. Their road is full of concrete and asphalt, not tall trees and dry brush.

“We went to some friends in Manhattan Beach. At that time you could see the clouds,” said John Riley. “I think Ali and Bev just realized it was over. I had hope for a few days.”

What was once a temporary exit in the past will never end this time. A friend, who sneaked back into the neighborhood days after the fire, shared a video showing the dark scene where the home the Rileys hoped to return to once existed. But there was no time to wrap up.

“I think we were too worried about the other person, we were worried about him [the wedding] it would continue. We can focus on something other than ourselves,” said Lowe.

“It makes no sense to look back. The house is gone. Sad content. But we were able to get rid of a lot of very valuable things.”

Asked how he can maintain such a clear vision during such a difficult time, Lowe said marriage has helped.

“And having good insurance,” he added.

Nevertheless, the planned reception at the Palisades had to be canceled, new accommodation had to be found for the visitors from New Zealand who would stay there, and a hundred and one things that had already been planned had to be changed. However, the wedding went off without a hitch, even if some of the guests wore blue jeans and room slippers instead of suits and dress shoes.

Afterwards the bride and groom returned to Ali Riley’s house in Canoga Park, where they watched in horror as the smoke from the Palisades fire, which had cleared the Santa Monica Mountains and began to threaten the San Fernando Valley.

“We feel very lucky,” said Ali Riley, who was forced out of the team hotel by fire during the last Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. “We want to have a purpose and be able to help and make a positive impact, connect with our community and give it love. It was very good, difficult, but it’s really good that it all worked out. “

“Our marriage was lit by fire and we survived,” he added. “So I think we will have a long marriage.”