I had not realized how long it has been since I have posted a blog entry until I logged in this morning. I guess life changing events is what challenges me to write and share. Well alas another major life changing event has occurred.
May 20th (just 7 days ago) I awoke to another normal day in the life. Work, school, counting the days until the pool opens and juggling three active kids at home and tracking 2 older kids out there somewhere. So really a regular day. Early that evening I was in the upstairs cooking dinner for the kiddos when I noticed a smell. I just thought something had spilled in the oven or on the stove top and didn't think much about it at first. The smell persisted and I had a thought as I walked over to the basement door and opened it. Poof a huge ball of rolling black smoke immediately enveloped me. I can still vividly see it coming towards me like a locomotive.
According to my kids the first words out of my mouth were. "Oh shit, fire, everyone out!" AJ still yells at me when he retells that story to others and scolds me for cursing. I remind him that there is a time and place for everything. The kids looked at me with a strange look of confusion in their eyes and actually left the house as directed. Alexis was able to grab Duncan our beloved. Scottish Terrier. We all quickly regrouped in the driveway as I called 911. While talking to the emergency operator I glance up and notice AJ at the front door trying to go in as the dark smoke billowed out. I ran and caught him as he crossed the threshold and dragged him back. He was yelling he had to save the family cat, "Lovey." I quickly explained that it is too dangerous to go back in and that the firemen would save him once they got here. I placed the kids and dog in my car still in the driveway and backed the car further away from the house. I called Julie who was at her mother's house just a couple of miles away and told her to get home the house was on fire. About this time I could hear the sirens in the distance as the dark smoke seemed to emanate from every window,door and crack in the shell of our home. It even seemed to be escaping through the shingles of the roof. Neighbors peaking through their curtains and standing on their porches. One neighbor asked if help had been called. Standing next to the car trying to keep my crying children calm the big red trucks started arriving. First one, then two and three, four and five and an ambulance. he firemen went into action quickly. They lifted the ladder and unrolled the hoses and connected to a fire hydrant a few houses down. The kids started yelling at the firemen to save their cat but no one could hear them. It took me a couple of moments to get someone's attention to tell them about the cat. I already knew in my heart the cat was probably not going to make it, but kept encouraging the kids to have faith she would be alright. What else was I going to tell them at this point? When the fire erupted the cat ran in fear to one of her many hiding spots further back in the house so I knew I would take a lot time for her to be found. The question being found dead or alive.
It was less than 10 minutes before Julie arrived. The street had been blocked on both ends so she had to walk a bit to get to the house which was still a smoky inferno. I quickly updated her as she took in the site of her home in the process of being devastated. It was an emotional rush for her and quickly she became overcome by emotion, especially when her mom arrived and she ran to her for comfort. I quickly ushered the kids out of the car to their grandmas car further from the house. I knew they didn't need to see anymore than they already had. Grandma Louise quickly escorted the kids away from the house and took them to her home.
The next couple of hours were a blur as several official fire administration officials arrived. Many wonderful friends came to be with us as we waited for more news from the fire department as they contained the fire and started investigating. After about an hour they informed us the cat had not survived as she took in too much smoke. Immediately I dreaded the conversation that would need to be had with the kids before the night was over. One of the fire officials came and started asking us questions as to what happened and about various issues and details of the house and how it was set up and who lived there and where their respective bedrooms were and so forth. As Julie and I talked we started wondering and how it all started. Initially we thought it had to do with the equipment that was left in the basement from a restoration company who was cleaning up a flood in the basement earlier that day. In fact, they had left the house about 30 minutes prior to when I noticed the fire. In time we were in fact told a different cause altogether.
The fire originated in the bedroom of our oldest son and was deemed an accidental electric fire. Let me just say this. NO MORE EXTENSION CORDS! Between overloading a power strip and using old substandard extension cords which created a formula for disaster. Our oldest son had just returned from his year away at college two days prior. Needless to say he lost everything he owned. His clothes, shoes, hats, computers, gaming systems, games and much much more was packed in that room. It immediately shook him up and he went into fight or flight mode. After he spoke to the fire officials at the scene we didn't actually see him for nearly 48 hours and rarely heard from him. It was with much prayer and reassurance to him that finally gave him the freedom and safety to return to the family. He is doing much better now and is at the hotel with us and looking forward to what comes next in his life.
We were able to take a quick tour of the house after the fire was extinguished and it was deemed safe. To say it was shocking is an understatement. The amount of smoke damage throughout the entire home was overwhelming. The lower level where our oldest son and oldest daughter and I all had our bedrooms and other living spaces was a black dark hole. Furnishings melted, glass on the floor, water soaked picture frames on the wall, blackened out faces on those same pictures. Going into the room where it all started was like a burnt out black hole. Things were melted and broken and purely disintegrated. Once we left the house and the fire department turned it back over to us we locked the doors and walked away still somewhat in shock.
The first night we stayed at Julie's mom's house so we could all be together for the sake of the kids. The two younger children were devastated when they heard the news about the cat. It took us a long time to console them and get them quieted again. Luckily Julie had taken some laundry to her mom's house and each of the kids had some clothes there they could wear, including pajamas. No one slept well that night. Kids were restless, jumping from bed to bed to find comfort and morning came all too early. We got up with the plan to keep kids on their schedules and getting them all to school in a timely manner and that mission was accomplished. We know that our children thrive on consistency and routine so with only 2 days of school left we marched on.
It was really a blessing the kids were in school as it gave us two days to deal with all the insurance issues, phone calls, and tons of decisions that needed to be made. Had the kids been around that would have been much harder than it was. So we were thankful for that.
Frankly from the beginning of it all I specifically chose GRATITUDE. Grateful that we were all alive. Grateful that it was not worst. Grateful that it did not affect any neighbors. Grateful for the fire department personnel and first responders who were on the scene. Grateful for the funny Red Cross volunteer who came with care packages and hotel and food vouchers so we could begin the process of rebuilding. Grateful that the kids were not more emotionally/spiritually impacted than they were by the fire. Grateful that Julie has good home owners insurance and that I had good renters insurance. So many things came to mind in the first day or two of things to be grateful for as we went through the process.
Sitting here and reflecting back on the night of the fire and how I stood there watching the burning it was almost surreal. Was that really me? Did my kids and I just evacuate our home that was on fire? Really???? I remember as a kid the television show The Waltons and the episode where the family home was burned. That episode left a mark in my mind and I never forgot it. Now here I am 50 years old having watched my home burn just as the Walton's did all those years ago. I don't remember feeling fear as the home was engulfed in smoke, rather I just wanted my kids to be safe. Yet something else in which to be grateful.
A week later now and I am amazed at the amount of love and support we have received from people some being family and close friends and other being people we haven't seen in decades and in some cases do not even know. Grateful that they were there to help us along the way. Being purely honest, I also realized who were true friends.
The Burning as I will forever call May 20, 2019 is an opportunity to start fresh. A chance to rethink the choices I have made in the past regarding materialism and giving to others. A way to rethink and live the next 50 years better than I have the first 50 years. The Burning will teach me many things in the days, weeks, months ahead as we restore and rebuild a place The Ballard Bunch calls home!
P.S. Stay tuned for additional blog entries as I share the journey that started from The Burning!
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