A Long Time Coming

Filed Under: News, Real Life

Ah…well.
I don’t even know where to begin. There’s good reason for my absence. I’ve tried writing this post a million times but no words come. Everything is just blank … and numb.

On July 23rd, I lost everything in a house fire. Many of you know that my little family shares a house with my twin sister, Kari and her husband. On that Saturday, we went out while my brother in law worked in the garage and Kari lounged around, having a relaxing day. Something happened in the garage and some Super 77 blew up in my BIL’s face. Luckily, he didn’t get hurt. He ran into the house get a fire extinguisher but when he came back, the flames had already engulfed the garage. So, he ran back in to get Kari and their dog out and called the fire department. Then he called me to tell us to come home. When BIFD arrived, they said there was fire coming out of nearly every window and was 75% on fire, that is how fast it spread. Right then and there, it was a complete loss. We lost everything. All I could think of was my camera gear. All Nick could think of was his Dads stuff (his Dad passed away earlier this year). All Kari could think of was her wedding rings that were in her bathroom. All my brother in law could think of was how this was his fault. It wasn’t at all. It was 100% a freak accident.
The Red Cross took care of us from day one. A HUGE thank you to them! They put us up in a hotel, gave us money for necessities.
For a week, we all scrambled to find a new place to live. Within a few days, we found our new home. We were able to move in quickly, on August 1st. We absoutely LOVE it!!
I want to say THANK YOU for anyone who sent a donation, big or small – I can’t even express what it means to me, to us.
Thank you to those who sent their love and support, it makes this little speed bump in our lives a little easier.

Just thank you. It’s not close to enough of what I feel in my heart but THANK YOU.

Remember how I said Kari was worried about her rings? Well, she got them back! Her bathroom was the only room basically untouched – it had some obvious water and smoke damage but all she cared about were her rings and they were safe!!

And, how I said Nick was worried about his Dad’s things? This is our miracle. We were able to recover his Dad’s flag! It is unscathed! Just smells of smoke. It was in one of the hottest places in the fire, BIFD rated it at 3700 degrees, yet this flag remained untouched. It literally brought us to our knees.
We were also able to recover both our our fireproof safes (each family had one). Ours was upstairs, and the flag on top of that. Nick and Kari’s was in their closet in their bedroom.

1 Note Left

1. Roxanne says:

   October 7, 2011 at 6:18 pm

   I got teary eyed reading this. I can’t believe it’s already been over 2 months. I’m happy you got a new place and I hope you guys have everything you need, or are at least well on your way. You’re such a wonderful family!
   Roxanne recently posted..It’s A Boy!