With my dad working hard for so long, he had never had the time or money to repair our house. We were living in a literal hell hole. It was just studs for walls and four doors. We had no central air or heat, just fans and portable heaters. So, we just made do and had been living that way since my mom passed away. That's what we knew and that house was in bad shape. It had electrical issues, the sewerage would back up into the old dishwasher and the shower never worked correctly. Heck, even the toilet was always losing it's flusher. What happened to us next was totally unseen but it was an act of God....
At the end of 2013, my mom's dad was getting worse off to where he couldn't even clean himself after using the bathroom. This added a ton of stress to my grandmother and right after Christmas of that year, she had him brought to a home to be taken care of. Her daughter, my mom's sister, fought her on the idea and she thought he should be at home. She didn't realize the weight my grandmother had to carry. She realized it in late March though....in the middle of the night, my grandmother had a minor heart attack. I didn't find out until my cousin contacted me at 4 pm the next day....my mouth just dropped...my sis and I had no idea and weren't notified. That wasn't a new thing though. After my mom passed away and even after my uncle's accident, my grandmother had become distant. So not hearing from her wasn't a huge surprise but it did upset us to hear that she was in the hospital. Not soon after her heart attack, we started visiting our grandpaw at the home. He was so happy there and so happy to see us. It was nice to just go sit and talk with him. I was so happy to get that time with him.
Summer came and work hadn't started again yet. I was driving home and felt my phone vibrating a ton. My sister called and so did my grandmother. It was odd and I called my sister back first. What I was about to hear was a shock...I verified it once I called my grandmother back. My grandfather had just all of a sudden took a turn for the worse and they were performing emergency CPR on him. As soon as we made it to his room, we heard them stop trying to resuscitate him. They pronounced him dad right as we walked up...he was waiting to hear our voices.....it hit us all hard and they say he went peacefully in his sleep. I just never got to know him..that is what made me the most upset. I met him when he had lived most of his life. I'm just very fortunate to have been able to meet the man who helped make my mom, sister and I's lives a reality.
How much more could my family truly take? What else could possibly happen? What was God planning for us next?
My sister had been diagnosed with diabetes years back after being admitted to St. Jude's Children's Hospital after having suicidal thoughts at school and was later diagnosed with high blood pressure. My dad had several health complications leading up to this next event. He had issues with his back, his knees had given out on him numerous times while working, and he also almost had heat stroke. Nothing seemed to be getting any better for my family....we honestly would ask why and I knew we were all depressed with how we had to live...I know I was. I was sleeping on a sofa in the living room, my sister had finally gotten her GED in May of 2013 but is struggling to find a job, and my dad would work 10-13 hour days. Those aren't the greatest lives to live. We just prayed and hoped that something would happen to change it all....it did, but, not what we were expecting.
November 15, 2014 at 2:30 am
I was woken up by my dad screaming, "Holy Shit! FIRE!!!!" A fire had somehow started on my clothes wrack feet away from where I was sleeping. We hadn't realized that it was started by an electrical cause until after the fact. My dad told me to go run get water... As soon as I threw the water on it, my whole shelving unit was engulfed. You could hear the roar of the engulfing. My dad screamed, "Get the F*** out now!!!! Go!!!" I turned around, grabbed 3 bags that were my only thing in sight and ran. My sister was already outside on the phone with 911. I noticed my dad hadn't followed me so I ran back in. As I got in there, I saw he was still trying to put it out. I told him to get out. It had reached the roof and I knew the house was gone. The openness of the home and all wood was just the perfect fuel for the fire. He ran out and I almost did until I realized something....THE DOGS. We had to keep three caged because they weren't trained. We also had a cat but she ran and hid. I ran to the cages to undo the locks.....I felt my back burning.....burning so I ran towards the hall. The oldest dog had been at the back of the house and so I grabbed her. I turned around and screamed, "Come on!! Follow me! Follow my voice!!" All I could see was the flames engulfing the living room and one dog standing in the cage staring at the fire paralyzed. It honestly looked like God's hands grabbing a hold of the the house. None of the other animals made it out. Just the one I had picked up. We stood outside watching the firefighters try to stop it and the flames reached at least 10 feet above the house. The smoke could be seen more than a half mile away. We had made it out alive but lost the little we knew as a norm. My dad received 2nd degree burns on his face and hands. I had first degree on my arms and second degree on my back. I didn't realize that my dad's face was distorted until after the fact. He wasn't looking well so I drove him to the ER. He was crying and blaming himself....I rarely see him show any emotion. I started crying too and he suggested that I be looked at too. He had to be kept longer because of the worry of carbon monoxide poisoning. The burns on my back actually had pussed up badly and was bigger than my fist. Once our burns started to heal, my sister noticed that the larger one on my back was in the shape of a heart. Was it my mom who grabbed my back to tell me to get myself out?? Did God do it to make me leave? I may never know. I just know it was an act of God. We have found several bibles burn free in boxes with things burned to a crisp. I also have had a whole table of things untouched with everything around it scorched. There was a bible on the shelf under it. One other thing I know now is that my opening of the back door in hopes of the dogs getting out saved the house from totally collapsing in the room where the fire started. That, and, the space heater overloaded the power strip. One of the coldest days of the year and all we wanted was to get warm....you can't tell me things don't happen for a reason. I know they do. I'm thankful to be alive and to still have my family here with me. We may have lost everything materialistic to us but we still have each other. That's what truly matters.
With not having fire insurance or home owner's to cover the damage the fire had caused, we were between a rock and a hard place.
My father finally received a call from the building inspector to meet him at the burned house. He told my dad that the whole roof including the support beams had to go along with the wall where the fire had started. The other thing the inspector mentioned was that if the appraised value of the house was less than the cost to repair it, we would have to raise our home, costing an extra 100 plus grand. My poor dad works so hard and tries to give us all he can. He just never could catch a break. He is a fighter though and I know I get my will to never give up from him.