A Merritt woman who’s been dealing with one disaster after another this year is trying to keep her spirits up as best she can.

Marjorie Rowley lost her son on New Year’s Day, then lost her home in this summer’s Sparks Lake Fire, at which point she moved to a new mobile home on Pine Street in  Merritt.

“And I was there for not even quite six months in Merritt down by the water and I watched my trailer float away on TV and they still haven’t found it,” Rowley said on Monday, Dec. 20.

She’s been living at the Delta Hotel in Kamloops, but speaking on NL Newsday, Rowley also noted that her Emergency Support Services (ESS) supports ran out on Dec. 15, forcing her to turn to – in her words – knit up a storm.

“I’ve been selling blankets, toques, and hats,” she said. “Actually a gentleman, not last night, but the night before that, gave me a $50 bill. I cried. And I insisted that he took a blanket, an Afghan, and he wouldn’t do it. He just said, ‘I heard you talking and I really can’t say enough, but Merry Christmas.'”

These days you can find Marjorie out in front of the London Drugs in Kamloops with her dog Honey.

“It’s not like I’m panhandling. When someone has given me money, I insist for them to take something,” she added. “I always have learned that you don’t get anything for nothing. You have to work for it.”

Rowley also says she is waiting to hear back from the Red Cross, who have told her they cannot verify her ID so she can get supports again as her wallet was stolen once she was evacuated to Kamloops.

Listen to Marjorie’s full interview with Brett Mineer below: