A Sad Reminder

Sometimes unfortunate things happen in our lives or in the lives of someone we may or may not know. When these types of circumstances surface, we tend to not only feel the sadness or devastation of those around us but we will also reflect on what that situation would mean to us. Earlier this week, one of the most horrible things happened to a family I don't even know. I only know them from driving by their home twice a day, four days a week for the past 10 months. This family unfortunately experienced a house fire. Now, I don't know all of the details about what transpired. From what I've heard, the husband was smoking an elk in the garage. Not too atypical in our neck of the woods or in the lives of so many of our friends. At some point the garage caught on fire. The rest of the family was in the house. Luckily, the wife noticed the fire and was able to get herself, their little girl and dog out of the house safely. This all occurred about the time the elementary school in the neighborhood was letting out. As I drove to pick up Kenzie from school, there had been several police cars and firetrucks combined to combat the blaze for about a half an hour. Dozens of parents were lined up on the sides of the road waiting to be able to drive down the streets to get to their own homes. When I got to Sara's house, the house had been burning for about an hour. As I said a prayer for the safety of the family and a prayer of hope for the firefighters to be able to convince the fire to succumb for good, a significant portion of the front of the house was destroyed. The garage was burned. The fire had spread to the front entrance of the house and the porch was in the process of collapsing. The walls on the sides and back of the house still didn't show any signs of what was happening to the south. The fire was just beginning to engulf the second story above the garage. The next morning, I was not prepared for the mass devastation that I was going to witness.

This is my first view of the horrible ending to a very sad ordeal.

The house next door experienced major burning on the siding of the house about 25-30 feet away. The side of the house where the garage is gone besides the struts that created the house's structure. The rest of the house looks like a haunted house on Halloween.

The fire was so intense that the front of the car is melted. The rubble of fallen burned debris clutters the once beautiful front yard.

Thankfully, everyone is safe. But I am so saddened for this family. They lost their home. They lost the only place their little girl has ever lived. They lost everything...cars, clothes, photos, special pieces of family history, and everything they have worked so hard in their lives to earn. Like my Dad always says when there is a disaster..."It's just stuff, it can be replaced. People can't." And this reminder is the back of my mind always. My heart just sinks from the devastation that that family must have felt watching their home be destroyed. This weekend as I pack up some of Kenzie's clothes that don't fit and get out some hand-me-downs that will soon, I'll be making a second pile. Some things for a little girl that doesn't have any. And my Goodwill box has a few things that might help them while they begin to recover the losses. I know it will not bring back their home and everything they lost, but I hope they know with the few things that we can share with them, there is another family thinking about them and keeping them in their prayers. But as I said in a time of mass destruction, we look at what could have been or should have been done to avoid such a tragedy. Things we take for granted. Things that we say, "I've done this a million times before and nothing bad has every happened." Things that we put off to tomorrow because we think there will be a tomorrow.

Because of this I'm changing. I know have a timer on my phone as a reminder once a month.

• Check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
• Re tighten Kenzie's car seat (even though I already do this frequently with how often we change vehicles)
• Check outlets and fuse boxes for any signs of melting or electrical problems.
• Change batteries in emergency flashlights and radio
• Check fire extinguishers for signs of damage

There are so many things that we do that we aren't as cautious as we should be.

• Leaving appliances plugged in when we aren't using them
• Using lights that have somewhat loose wiring harnesses
• Leaving the burn barrel unattended for short amounts of time
• Leaving the grill unattended while we are cooking dinner
• Not having a smoke detector in the shop
• Leaving the electric that hooks up the garden laying on the ground when we aren't in the garden any longer

There are also so many things that need to be taken care of in case we ever experience a disaster. Most of our important paperwork lives in a fireproof safe. There are things that aren't in there that probably should be...account numbers, photos of vehicle VIN numbers, documentation of big purchases. But there are a lot of important things that should be in there also. A DVD copy of all of our pictures. Kenzie's baby book and memories. Our wedding book and memories. Horse and dog registration papers. My great-grandma's wedding rings. All of the letters Jake has given me over the years. Yes, these are just things. But they are such important memories. I would hate to be left without them. Regardless, a disaster of any sort is hard to think about but preparedness for a "if" that hopefully never arrives isn't a bad thing either. It could never bring back everything lost, but there would still be memories to pass on. But it's important to remember to do these safety things now, when they are in your thoughts and not wait for tomorrow. This I will do everytime my calendar timer goes off because of such a sad reminder.