We were woken from a fairly deep sleep on a Friday morning with our blaring house alarm. It's happened before so that wasn't what made this particular morning different from all the others. The Huz screamed, "Oh no, the shed is on fire!" and I startled up with surprise and fear. I woke our boys and told them quickly what was happening & they got up as well. It happened so quickly. It spread throughout our stand-alone shed in the backyard & engulfed it almost immediately. It spread to our backyard tree and was dangerously close to our house. I called 9-1-1 and begged them to hurry up. Meanwhile, The Huz was desperately trying to wet down our roof so that the fire wouldn't destroy our house and the boys were either trying to help put out the fire or gathering precious belongings.
As the fire seemed to get bigger and bigger, I felt myself feeling more & more afraid and in the midst of that fear I hysterically called 9-1-1 again to beg for their help. Turns out the firefighters had already arrived and were about to do their thing and put out the raging fire. Through my tears I saw a big cloud of grey smoke as the fire was immediately doused and calm descended on our property. It was a big blur, but I remember just staring at everything with my hand over my mouth.
My family and I huddled together in the front while the firefighters checked all throughout the house to assess any damages. I honestly just felt numb and super sad for my guys since it was their shed that just burned down and they had so many cherished possessions in there. Yes, we were all safe and that is the most important thing. But I wanted to allow them to grieve for their things. Things they've collected from our travels, as well as memorabilia and toys they valued. They know that these things are just material things and the preservation of our life is of the most value, but I acknowledge the hurt they feel. And I'm sad for them.
I think we were in still shock, but we immediately went into fix-it mode and headed to our nearby home improvement store to gather all the materials we would need to fix the fence that was part of the casualty of the fire. All four of us teamed up and worked for the whole day and completed the fence late into the night.
I think we'll be processing our feelings for quite some time. I have to closely monitor The Huz who tends to lovingly take on so much responsibility for us. He blames himself for not putting out the fire and saving all their stuff--easily dismissing that if it wasn't for his tenacity, our house may have gotten caught up in the fire. I, for one, will always be grateful for him and although he'll never see himself as the hero I see him, I'll at least try to make him accept the fact that he's not responsible for the material things that were lost.
On a side note, one of the hero firefighters recognized me from Middle School (I guess I didn't age too unrecognizability. LOL!) and it was nice to catch up with him and allow me to sincerely express my gratitude to him & his colleagues.
We're still hurting and probably will continue to process our feelings in future times to come. It'll be a journey.
Wishing everyone light & love as usual...and make sure you appreciate the wonderful things & people in your life! XOXO
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