Soldier On

[kajel]

Have you ever had something happen and you see a meme later that you realize was made for you? Only, you wish it wasn't.

Wednesday evening June 11th, 2008, a huge thunderstorm blew in while I was sitting in front of my computer.  I had decided the storm was bad enough I should turn off the computer.  Just as I logged out, there was a huge flash and loud pop above my head.  My thought was, the house had just been struck by lightning.  I jumped up and discovered the lights were out in half the house.  I could also hear an alarm going off.  It sounded like someone’s car alarm outside.

My husband met me near the front door.  It took about thirty seconds, but we finally realized the alarm was coming from our house.  We have a security system that the previous owners had installed.  We had never activated the system nor used it for any reason.  So, there were the two of us trying to figure out how to turn that damn thing off.  It was loud and making the dogs crazy. We ran over to the fuse box and reset the breaker that was out. We had lights again. However, within another minute, we lost power to the whole house.

Ned decided to pop up into the attic and see if he could turn the alarm off from there.  That is when he smelled smoke.  I called 911 to be on the safe side.  He jumped out of the attic and ran around the outside of the house looking for any fire.  He didn’t find anything. I was just finishing my call with 911 when he popped his head back into the attic.  He was only halfway up the ladder when he saw the fire in the insulation. The smoldering spark had turned into a raging blaze in the back end of the attic.

At that point, we dropped everything, grabbed the dogs and got out.  I remember that about the time he yelled there was a fire was when the smoke started to come down through the vents.  The smoke literally chased us out of the house.  We threw the dogs into the car and moved it down the street.  We each ran to a separate neighbor’s house to warn them.  At that point, we could hear the fire trucks on their way.  

So, there we were, barefoot in the pouring rain on a Wednesday evening in June watching our house burn.  A lightning strike sparked our furnace and caused a fire in the insulation of our attic. Most of the roof was gone.  We walked away that night with the clothes on our backs, the dogs and our car. 

After the fire, Ned and I sat back and reassessed some things in our lives.  He was making enough that I decided I could quit my job and finish college.  So, two weeks after the fire, I gave my employer notice. It was a decision that ended up being a huge relief. The lowered stress levels were one of the major benefits.

I gave my notice on a Monday. That Thursday night, I discovered something else.  I was pregnant with our first child.  I had become pregnant just before our house fire. It was a lot to deal with in one month.  My husband did say to me that at least the news kept getting better.  I remember feeling overwhelmed for a bit.  Not really more than a couple of hours.

There was nothing for us to do but soldier on. We repeated a mantra that helped us. It’s just stuff. Sure, it was our stuff, but stuff can be replaced. Lives could not. We were lucky.


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This is my entry for LJ Idol: S9 Week 9. This week’s topic was “Keep calm and end this meme”.

Comments

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Phew! I'm glad Ned had a good nose for smoke, and that you got yourselves and the dogs out safely!

So is the kidlet nicknamed Sparky? :)

[kajel.livejournal.com]

haha That would have been a good nickname! Bonus points: It ends in y, but alas has one too many letters. So, Nicky it is. Nicholas when he's in trouble! ;)

[kagomeshuko.livejournal.com]

It's good that you can look at it as "just stuff" and see that your lives are more important! I like that your husband saw it as the news getting better.

It's too bad you didn't know anything about the alarm. We have an alarm where it is security, CO, and a fire alarm all built into one and goes to a company and they call if the alarm goes off. It's nice having that.

[kajel.livejournal.com]

It was a good answer, when that third thing hit us. ;) We have learned and we have a new alarm system installed and is actually being monitored.

The 'it's just stuff' was really huge for us. It helped us keep things in perspective.

[kagomeshuko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have a lot of stuff and I do have to remind myself of that.

I lost a lot of stuff from stupid movers when we moved houses. They stole my trunk full of my "special T-shirts" (shirts from school clubs and events, etc.)

The trunk was nice, too. At least that wasn't all that special. I think they may have stolen my first baby doll. While special, at least I wasn't that fond of the thing.

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh! Glad you guys are all safe! We had to call the firefighters on Easter, just two or so weeks ago. Smoldering light ballast in our basement. Had it been a work day or in the middle of the night, we woulda been screwed! You were lucky, indeed. AW

[kajel.livejournal.com]

It was an eye opening experience. You either laugh or you cry. Mostly, we laughed. I think a few people thought we were crazy. ;)

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

Since it was Easter, of all days, I offered my firefighters some chocolate! LOL
AW

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

That is a scary story but I liked how you segued into the entire month being crazy!

[kajel.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It was a lot all at once, but such is life. The funny thing, we had been trying to get pregnant for over six months. We decided that I would go back on the pill and we would try to wait to have our first child until the house was rebuilt.

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! That's a lot to have to deal with all in a go! So much change in so little time must have been hard. *hugs*

[kajel.livejournal.com]

It was. Luckily, giving up the job helped a lot with stress and time management issues. lol

[raven-annabelle.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a lot of stuff happening! I'm glad you all got out safely. I enjoyed reading this!

[kajel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

Glad everyone made it out safe!

[kajel.livejournal.com]

Me too. We were lucky that it happened around 6:30 in the evening and we were home for work. I am not sure what would have happened to the dogs had we not been there.

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

Oh God! that was so much to deal with in one go..Glad you were lucky..and now in a better place and situation..:)
Though it suits the prompt wished it didn't suit situation right out of RL. *Hugs*

[i-love-freddie.livejournal.com]

That must have been a terrifying experience. But I think sometimes it is good to have things like this happen, to be reminded that there is much more to life than just objects.

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of stress, but I'm impressed at your husband's response. And as a hoarder-in-training part of me totally agrees it's just stuff, the other part gasped in horror at the thought of alllllll my preciouses getting burnt. It's definitely a good reminder that those things aren't important in life.

[witches.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you had to deal with that! But I'm glad you guys are safe <3

[mothermelete.livejournal.com]

My first thought was "when it rains, it pours" - and then realized the irony. Glad you got out safe. I know the feeling well of things just happening all at once.

[favoritebean.livejournal.com]

Wow. I cannot imagine losing a house to a fire. You were incredibly brave.

This was well written.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Of course you're right. Objects no matter how precious they are, are just things, but life is truly irreplaceable. Thanks for this reminder.

[solstice-singer.livejournal.com]

That would be a lot to deal with in such a short time. I'm really glad you and your husband weren't hurt in the fire.

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you all got out safely -- what a scary thing! And yay for the news keeping getting better. :)

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Wow, how scary! That kind of fire is about the last thing you would expect, and it's lucky your husband found it sooner rather than later. :O

[cheshire23.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is a LOT to deal with all at once.