We were lucky, very lucky, in hindsight. It really didn't feel that way right off. Losing Baby was the hardest part. We learned very quickly that things are just that: things. Some of those things are irreplaceable, and some of those things have unexplainable sentimental value, and despite all the intangible thoughts and connections with tangible items, they really are just "things" in the end.
The firefighters saved some of our pictures, and my artwork from high school, some items from the office, and our fire safe. I was grateful beyond words for the pictures and the artwork. The fire safe is somewhat a different story.
I hope that the volunteer firefighters who responded to our fire never read this! After we had sat in the car for a couple of hours and finally braved our way back down the driveway to the house, it was a surreal experience indeed for a sight-impaired person looking on. The fire had almost been entirely extinguished, but there was still a halo of spark and smoke hanging above the horizon. We had draped a blanket that we found in the car around our shoulders and were stumbling a bit across the terrain.
As we stood about 15 feet from where the deck had once been, one of the firefighters came up to us carrying the fire safe that we had just gotten back from Alice, Scotty's mom, several weeks before. It had been under the master bedroom bed, and I silently wondered about Baby when the firefighter set it down beside us. He said, "Hey folks - we found your fire safe intact in the master bedroom".
Scotty & I somehow had the presence of mind to avoid looking at each other until he walked away. We restrained ourselves for about a minute, then turned our heads to look at each other and burst out laughing. Fire safes are a great thing, IF you actually store something in them! We had not even taken the time to put our important papers in the safe. Our birth certificates were in the computer room, exposed on the desk. My passport, our social security cards, and other important identification documents were either floating around somewhere in the debris of the house or were lost forever.
As we moved around the disaster zone, we left the fire safe sitting where it was. That same firefighter would pick it up and bring it where we were standing and sit it beside us, saying "Here's your fire safe". He was trying to make sure that we had something tangible to hold onto, and we couldn't have cared less about that empty safe! We didn't have the heart to tell him that it was empty. He was doing a fine thing in our minds, trying to reassure us that all was as well as it could be.
We called our friend Terry at about 5:30 am. We figured enough time had passed, and he would already be up getting ready for work. We drove to his house, showered, and settled in to wait. I needed contact lenses before we attempted anything. We called Daddy, and he met us at Terry's with money. I hated to accept it but didn't have much choice. We both needed clothes, and the dogs needed food, and so did we.
I called the eye doctor's office at 8:01 am Friday 10/24/08 to try to get contact lenses. I couldn't function until I could see. They finally called back around 11 am and were gracious enough to provide soft lenses that were as close to my prescription as they could get. I wear gas permeable lenses, but this was great! I could finally see (sort of!). They refused to charge me for the contacts and told me to come back for an exam when we were more settled. This made both of us cry right there in the doctor's office. We are blessed to have such great doctors, staff, and friends.
We headed to Wal-Mart to find clothing and now-necessities. Did you know that there are now-necessities and nearly-now necessities? Well, there are. Clothing was second on the list, after toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, contact lens solution, soap, toothbrushes, a brush, hairspray, styling goo, razors, shaving cream, dental floss, vitamins, ... well, you get the idea.
A word about those Wal-Mart people pictures circulating the internet next time...
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