Published Jan 8, 2026

‘A Walk To Remember’ Star Mandy Moore, 41, Says The ‘Trauma & Grief’ Of Losing Her Home To L.A. Wildfires ‘Is So Palpable’ One Year Later

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Understanding Grief

Actress Mandy Moore, 41, says the “grief and trauma” from losing her Altadena, California home in last year’s Eaton Fire is still deeply felt as she and her family continue to heal.
Grief is a difficult, truly personal process, something Moore has shown. Some find solace in vulnerability and sharing how they feel with others.
While working through grief and vulnerable tackling of the emotions that accompany it, some find tools like therapy to be helpful. For others, support groups or turning to faith may be helpful.
Whichever methods of support you look for after loss, you should know that there is no correct way to grieve. There is no perfect timeline for grieving, either.
If you are facing mental health struggles, make an appointment with your doctor or mental health professional today. In the meantime, here is SurvivorNet’s guide of resources to get you started. There is never any shame in asking for help. No one should suffer alone.

Singer-songwriter and acclaimed actress Mandy Moore, 41, is still grappling with grief after the loss of her Altadena, California, home, which burned down during the massive Eaton Fire in East Los Angeles last January.

Moore—known for acting in the 2002 film “A Walk To Remember,” about a high school girl diagnosed with metastatic leukemia, and in the TV drama series “This Is Us”—took to social media to share that healing is still underway after fires tore through Altadena.

Alongside an Instagram post showing damage from the fires, Moore wrote, “Today is a day of the full spectrum of emotions. There is so much I could say but I’ll just leave it with this.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year. The trauma and grief is still so palpable. Our neighborhood. Our town. Our friends. Our sense of safety was compromised and it takes time to earn that back.”

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A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm)

The mom of three continued, “My heart is with everyone affected: the lives that were lost and the lives that were forever changed on both sides of our beautiful city.

“I’m grateful for the chance to gather tonight and celebrate how resilient Altadena is; to be in community with one another and MUSIC to commemorate what we’ve lived through and what comes next.”

After sharing how “endlessly grateful” she remains to everyone who helped Los Angeles during that time of need, she concluded, “The work has only just begun but we’re in it together. Altadena forever.”

Last week, Moore closed out 2025 by sharing happy memories with her loved ones. Despite calling the year “a doozy,” she admitted there was beauty to be found.

She captioned the post, which referred to the loss her family experienced because of the fires, “It walloped just about everyone I know and love in ALL the ways.

“In the midst of mining the confusion, the stress, and trauma there was MUCH joy to buoy our collective spirits.”

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Moore continued, “I’m grateful to my friends, to the kindness of strangers, and to the sweetest family of all time. And I don’t know what I would have done without the greatest partner and dad of all time. He kept us afloat.

“But boy am I’m ready to bring in the new energy of the new year. Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy 2026.”

We’re encouraged to see Moore finding moments of positivity despite the challenges that come with loss.

Moore shared on February 11, 2025 that she was never notified to evacuate, but thankfully received a call from her brother-in-law to get out of harms way.

She recounted in the post, “It was 6:45 p.m. and he told me he, his wife, and our niece were evacuating, grabbing my in-laws (his parents) and getting the heck out of Dodge and we should do the same. I calmly walked downstairs and relayed this to my husband and without skipping a beat, we promptly packed up the kids (in their pjs), our dog, and scrambled to find our 3 cats as the power went out.

“I’ll never forget Taylor trying to figure out how to manually open our two little garage doors (they’d just finished construction around Thanksgiving and we’d just started using them—) in the harrowing 60 mph winds, as the sky glowed a dark red and ash started to fall all around us.”

Actress Hillary Duff and her musician husband Matthew Koma ultimately housed Moore and her family in the wake of the fires.

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A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm)

Life After Loss

It’s normal to feel sad about changes in your life that might be brought on by death, a cancer diagnosis, or the loss of a home.

“Grief comes in waves,” says Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“They’re grieving the change in their life, the future they had imagined is now different.”

Learning More About Grief

Some days can be tougher than others, but Dr. Irwin says talk therapy is helpful so it’s important to reach out to your doctor, to a therapist or to support groups in your community.

“I think the most important advice I would give to someone who has just received a cancer diagnosis is to find people whom they find as a source of support. To allow themselves to go through all of the different emotional reactions to that news,” said Dr. Susan Parsons, Director of the Center for Health Solutions/Center on Child and Family Outcomes at Tufts Medical Center, in a prior interview with SurvivorNet.

Fear, Anger, Anxiety You’re Entitled To Your Emotions

“The anger, the frustration, the fear. The disappointment. Whatever those emotions are, figure out what’s important to you and find those people that can help you realize that,” Dr. Parsons explained.

In times of frustration, it can be useful to a little bit of direction on specific ways to deal with it. A few of the most common ways to deal with fear and anxiety after a cancer diagnosis, that have helped people in the SurvivorNet community in the past, include:

Let your family and close friends know and let them help. So many cancer survivors tell us they want and need support but are often too preoccupied to make specific requests. Urge those close to you to jump in with whatever practical help they can offer.
Keep a journal. It can be extremely cathartic to let those feelings loose on paper. Grab a pen and a nice journal and chronicle your different thoughts throughout the day.
Join a cancer support group. There are groups in nearly every community offering opportunities to connect with others going through a similar journey. You’ll learn incredibly helpful insight from others who can tell you about what to expect and how to stay strong on tough days.
Consider seeing a therapist. Ask your doctor to refer you to a therapist so you can discuss your fears and concerns in a safe space. Often, vocalizing your thoughts and feelings rather than internalizing them can provide relief.

How to Cope With Complex & Changing Emotions

When a stressful life event occurs, people may react with a range of different (and quickly changing) emotions. This is completely normal.

“The way people respond is very variable,” Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik tells SurvivorNet. “Very much consistent with how they respond to stresses and challenges in their life in general.”

In this video, Dr. Plutchik is speaking mostly about how people react after a cancer diagnosis which can be a huge range of emotions from fear to anger to determination.

Handling stressful life events

However, the conclusion remains the same no matter what stressor someone may be dealing with: your emotions are valid and seeking mental health help may look different for every person.

“People have a range of emotions when they’re diagnosed with cancer,” Dr. Plutchik explains. “And they can include fear, anger … and these emotions tend to be fluid. They can recede and return based on where someone is in the process. Going through a cancer diagnosis is just the beginning of a complicated, complicated process.”

Dr. Plutchik explains that the patient, or person going through the stressful event, should accept that emotions will be fluid. You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive wave of stress the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support whether that’s a therapist, friends and family, or both to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions.

If a stressful event is affecting how you think and feel, it may be time to seek some sort of mental health treatment. This could mean traditional talk therapy, medication, changing lifestyle habits (like exercise and diet), seeking out a support group, or many other approaches.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you find yourself struggling with a mental health issue, or a diagnosis, or even helping a loved one cope with their emotions after loss, whether that be from a house fire or cancer, consider asking your doctor the following questions:

How can I go about improving my outlook/mental health?
Are there any activities I can do to encourage positive feelings?
When should I seek other interventions if I’m still struggling?
What are the steps to finding a different therapist if the one I’m using is not working out?