The Daze After The Fire

The days after the fire were a roller coaster.  There were so many lows and just as many highs.

The night of the fire, one of the first people to meet me, after my breakdown to find Drewman, was the insurance agent.  She advised me, they would take care of us.  My thoughts were "Right!  Easy for you to say!  You aren't looking at a burnt house and everything you own gone!"  Low and behold, the next morning I received a phone call from the insurance adjuster, among others.  He came out and discussed the policy with us.  The Big Kids were there when he arrived.  They took notes!  Everything has been just as he said it would be.  Praise the Lord!

We had folks driving in the drive, dropping off items at friends and families, asking how they could help, offering up whatever they had to give.  It was a feeling of being blessed beyond belief.

On Tuesday, my aunt took Drewman shopping, so he could return to school the next day.  Drewman's room was unrecognizable after the fire.  The fire started, on the outside wall of his room, at the air conditioner unit.  He got out of the house with nothing on but a pair of gym shorts, a ratty old t-shirt and a pair of tennis shoes.  Not quite the attire he would need to return to school.  He started his shopping spree at a western store in a city near our home town.  The Momma PYG, of Drewman's church youth group, informed me the night of the fire, the church had placed money so he could get new boots.  The "boots" in our family are a symbol of great stature and the passage into adulthood.  Drew had gotten his "boots" shortly after my Daddy passed away, around his 16th birthday.

The original "boots"

Drewman returned to school on Wednesday, while Flower Boy, myself, friends and family attempted to make sense of the world in front of us.  My uncles met with folks to clean up the mess, walked us through what we should or shouldn't do, guided and directed us as we were in a complete daze.  They even started working on new house plans.  My aunts and friends did laundry of a few items that were salvageable, prepared food and collected items being dropped off for us. 

We had no idea, at the time, the amount of donations that were being given.  Each evening we would return to my aunts home to sleep, there would be an envelope on the table with my name on it.  I would open it and cry.  My aunt would hug me and tell me about the items dropped off that day.  We could see her dining room filling with cloths, shoes, bags, and tubs full of things. That was just at her house!  We were again blessed. 

Towards the end of the week things were starting to become less of a fog.  We have good friends that brought a 5th wheel travel trailer for us to stay in.  We felt the need to be "at home".  It was Friday evening, Flower Boy and I were in Walmart picking up supplies to set up the 5th wheel.  We go to the checkout line and complete strangers purchase our cart full of supplies!  They had heard us talking about the fire.  We leave the store in tears and wonder if the tears will ever stop.  Blessing just keep coming.

Saturday was another family day filled with sifting through things and attempting to take some sort of inventory, for the dreaded personal property list that has to be prepared for the insurance.  My sister and girl friend were sifting and writing with me, while Flower Boy, my oldest, brother-in-law and friend were removing the burnt carport from the shed.  It was a day filled with such sadness and disbelief.

Sunday brought one of our biggest blessings of all.  Drewman and I arrived at church in new jeans and boots, only to find Drewman would go to the front of the congregation and give an update on our status.  As we left church that morning, the congregation had given us the church offering for the day.  We did not have words, just tears.

Later that day, Flower Boy was making a final sift though the rubble.  He found our Christmas Stockings and a box of toys, from when my boys were babies.  It was a gift from God, as these items were not touched by the fire.

Final Demo

Monday, Drewman and I had found some sort of normal.  I returned to work.  Drewman was in school.  Life had been changed in the past week, but we pulled up our boots and strapped on our spurs, determined to move forward.  It was on this day that another life changing event happened.  The demo started!  My uncles and Flower Boy were overseeing the demo.  By the evening when Drewman and I arrived home the entire house was gone.  The next day the house slab was removed.  The next day... nothing but dirt!

Demo did stop one thing.  It stopped my option to say "Do you think we could find...?"  Our entire house and contents were loaded into 6 huge lugger boxes and hauled to the landfill. We had nothing left.

The days and weeks to follow could only get better from here!