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Surprise!(?) We survived the apocalypse. The party to end (or restart?) all parties in celebration of this non-event was at the Vogue on Saturday, making this my second time there both in my life and in the last week. It was also my third Star assignment in five days and sixth this month. Impressive, considering I had three assignments in the first four months I was with them. Hopefully, this keeps up.

Here's the 15-photo gallery.

Pali Endi of the Mojo Spinjas performs at the Vogue during its Mayan Survival Party in Broad Ripple, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (Alex Farris / For The Star)

On Tuesday, I got two Star assignments. One was the sweater party at the Vogue on Wednesday evening. The first one Mike gave me, though, was a Season for Sharing story with reporter Alex Campbell, and that one was much more meaningful.

The Heffner family (mother Levia and kids Denia, Jalen, MiShana, and Jazmine) lost their home, one they moved into just a couple of months ago, to a fire last week. They moved to an apartment on the Near Eastside, where they keep an "invisible Christmas tree" with presents underneath. They started meeting with Naeemah Jackson, a peace education facilitator at the Peace Learning Center, about a year ago, and Tuesday was going to be yet another meeting with her. The meeting started with the usual introductions, passing a stick around so each could bring their feelings into the discussion and say, "And I'm in."

The rest of the meeting was different, though. Jackson put two large sheets of paper on the wall, labeled, "Stages of Loss." As Campbell's story says, the wounds from the fire are still very raw. Jackson's goal was to keep those wounds in the open so they could heal, and not allow them to get buried and denied. Campbell tells the story better than I do, so if you can get behind the paywall I'll let you go there.

There's just one thing I have to add. The final stage of loss Jackson mentioned was forming a new identity, including making new memories. The Heffner family is far from there yet, but they're getting there, and they want to get there. They lost a lot of memories in the fire: Levia's husband's obituary, her collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, countless photos.

When I took the family and Jackson outside to get a picture of all of them, Levia said something like, "This is gonna be our first family photo!" I didn't think much of it at the time, just smiled and made sure the camera was still enough in the setting sun. As I drove home, though, I realized that I, in a small way, was part of their process of making new memories.

This is why I do journalism.

Levia Heffner cries as her daughter Jazmine, 10, answers a question from Peace Education Facilitator Naeemah Jackson of the Peace Learning Center at the family's new home on the Near Eastside, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Their previous home had burned down last week due to faulty wiring, and they moved what belongings remained to a new apartment. (Alex Farris / For The Star)

Another party-crasher assignment for the Star, this time a party at The Vogue. Given that I was one of about 12 Indianapolis twentysomethings who had never been inside the Broad Ripple staple, this was an interesting first impression. I'm sure the next time I go, there won't be huge snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and monstrous sweaters all over the place.

Side note: Fewer than half the people wore any sort of sweater, let alone the gaudy type the party was supposedly all about. It took a while to find enough for the Star's photo gallery, but I found them.

The Vogue hosted a holiday sweater party in Broad Ripple, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. The party, a special edition of Retro Rewind, included prizes for the ugliest sweater and the sexiest sweater. (Alex Farris / For The Star)