Starting Over

I have to begin this post by emphasizing that starting over could have never been accomplished without the unbelievable help and support of our family, our friends and the incredibly kind strangers who befriended us during this difficult time of our lives.  Our ability to overcome the adversity that was put upon us by the hands of another, was made possible by the outpouring of love, empathy and compassion that was showered upon us almost immediately following the fire.  While we always knew we had a loving family and very nice friends, we never knew how much we meant to everyone until that fateful day. From the smallest of gestures to the tremendous efforts of backbreaking labor, our spirits, hopes and faith were buoyed and reaffirmed over and over again.  Even during some of our most difficult cleanup days when the heat, soot, and abject filth of the fire's aftermath seemed to overwhelm us, our ever faithful family would arrive, some driving great distances, many forgoing relaxing weekends and one group from Arizona with three little ones and a newborn baby in tow.  We were at a loss for words then and I don't believe we will ever be able to convey to everyone how so very thankful and appreciative we are for all that was done and given to us; but we will be forever grateful and always hold in our hearts the incredible acts of love that were continually bestowed upon us.

     And so began the phase of starting over.  We were now both past middle age, had lost every material possession along with our pets, and  experienced complete destruction of our property.  Everything we needed for life would have to be re-purchased, re-made and re-created  I told John we were like a newly wed couple just starting out who would did not get any wedding gifts nor have a place to live.  Of course he was not amused and I was of course being facetious, but unfortunately it was somewhat true and we needed to get a semi-permanent home asap.  So once the old house site was cleared of all the remaining debris, we moved in our new double wide mobile home that State Farm Insurance had purchased for us.  While it was small and certainly not what we were used to, it was ours, on our property and would serve as a base for being on site for the reconstruction of our new home.  It ultimately took us six weeks after the fire to get into that trailer and boy did it feel good to finally be home.