What
a mixed bag of emotions today. We sifted through the rubble at what
used to be Jan's house. I was amazed at how well Jan held up. She is
so strong. We were amazed that some things (like Pyrex) held up. We
laughed when we drove up and saw the firemen in Jan's drive. I just
thought, "you are too late". It touched me as one of those firemen was
the man that had to give the order to let her house
go. He apologized and said "we just couldn't save it and I am so
sorry". Those firefighters deserve so much more thanks than we can ever
give them. Stephen has not been a part of our family for very long. We
got in the car and he said "Hey I found a burned recipe on the ground.
I took a picture of it.". If anybody knows anything about Tom and Jan's
mom (Baba), it was that she was the best cook ever. She was famous for
making a prize winning tomato relish. That recipe is not often given
out and is a treasure to us all. It was in a cook book that was burned.
Stephen read the ingredients from the picture and we all knew. It was
Baba's most famous recipe. It survived out of all of the hundreds of
recipes in the book. We cried as Jan wished to find just "one" Christmas
ornament intact. We found two. Neighbors came together to talk about
where they were when the "fire monster" came. Neighbors cried in each
others arms. Most of all, I was so proud of "us" as a family. We were
able to stand together, sift through rubble and remind each other that
that big mound of rubble is just a bunch of "things". Things that you
would hate to lose, but in the end, just things. The important thing is
family and supporting each other. Tonight my house is quiet. Our Cadet
has safely been returned back to the AFA. Jan, Stephen and the dogs are
spending their first night in their new home. Now the healing begins.
·
Laura and Becca digging through
the rubble.
Becca knocking where Jan's door used to be.
Jan sifting through the rubble.
Jan's back yard.
Jan's neighborhood.
Items we found in the rubble.
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