When the Marshall Fire tore through Boulder County in December 2021, Fallon Voorheis-Mathews and her husband, Fleetwood Mathews, lost everything.

"My wedding dress, our family photos," she said in a video she recorded of her burned property. "It's all gone."

Among the irreplaceable items destroyed was Fleetwood's first harvested bull elk – a deeply personal milestone for the avid bowhunter.

"I was saving all the best cuts for a special occasion, and it's a waste," Fleetwood said in 2022, when the couple first invited CBS Colorado's Kelly Werthmann to the charred remains of their property. "If you have something nice that you're cherishing, enjoy it. Don't wait because you never know what's going to happen."

In a unique act of compassion, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer donated confiscated elk meat – taken from an illegal hunt – to the couple after hearing their story. The gesture and forged friendship with Officer Sam Peterson became a symbol of the kindness that helped carry the Mathews family through their long road to recovery.

"In a time of devastation, there are silver linings," Fleetwood said, expressing his gratitude for CPW's generosity. "Not all is lost, even though it might feel like it is."

Now, more than three years later, the couple is finally in their rebuilt home in Louisville. They invited Werthmann back to their property, which is more than a house – it's a living gallery of memories, loss, and resilience.

"We chose white for the walls because we love art," Fallon said. "We wanted it to feel like an art gallery."

Inside, charred keepsakes like Fleetwood's late grandfather's tie clip and pieces of plates recovered from their burned home sit alongside bold new expressions of a new beginning. Perhaps most striking is an eight-foot mixed-media painting the couple co-created with a local artist.

"He had the canvas prepped for us… and he said, 'Just go crazy on the canvas, get it all out,'" Fallon explained. "So, we wrote lots of swear words on there."

The massive artwork also incorporates the final insurance settlement check, original building plans, and 716 tally marks – one for each day they were displaced.

"If it's there," Fallon said, pointing to the canvas, "then it doesn't need to be here," tapping her chest.

Like many families who lost their homes in the Marshall Fire, the Mathews faced uphill battles against insurance companies, the county, and contractors.

"Excruciating," Fallon said of the rebuilding process. "It was a big fight. But my husband and I are fighters, and we won't go down easy."

Just when the couple thought their fight to rebuild and get back home was over, another fight began.

"About three months after moving home, I went in for my 40-year-old routine mammogram and was diagnosed with breast cancer," said Fallon, fighting back tears. "I broke down with the nurse in that room and I just said, 'I can't do one more thing right now.'"

For the last year, Fallon has endured a series of grueling cancer treatments and surgeries. She had a double mastectomy with delayed reconstruction, radiation, and now hormone therapy. To process her grief, trauma, and fear, Fallon turns to art.

"Art heals," she said.

Using her passion and profession of aerial dance, Fallon not only uses the artistic movement to navigate her own emotions but hopes it can help others do the same.

"The more you try to fight it, the more it's going to take over," Fallon said.

It is an important message Fallon is pouring into her upcoming show titled Embers, Petals and Stars, premiering Aug. 21 and 22 at Denver's JCC Elaine Wolf Theater. It's a three-part aerial dance production she is directing and performing in, with the first act rooted in the devastation and recovery following the Marshall Fire.

"This story is so much bigger than my story of the Marshall Fire," she said. "It's a story about grief and resilience and rebuilding, and those are stories that transcend so many of us. We've all felt something like that in some way. We can all connect to that."

Fallon hopes the performance offers a space for community connection and healing, especially in a time when many feel overwhelmed by the world around them.

"To be able to go to a live show and feel this exchange of energy... it heals something in everybody," she said.

And, if anyone knows anything about healing and resilience, it's Fallon Voorheis-Mathews, who is now in remission.

"I've had a lot of grief in my life," she said. "But what I've learned most is that it doesn't go away. It's not predictable, and you can't change it. You just have to let it live and let it be."

Find more information about Embers, Petals and Stars online.