The Process: Day of The Fire

I’ve had people reach out and say, “My friend/sister/dad/aunt experienced a fire today, what can I do? Where do they begin?” So we wrote this down as a small guide. This is a wild beast of a day. The best I can suggest is delegate. The Office Bag My mom, in her infinite wisdom the…

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PTSD and Other Tales

Days after the fire a family friend messaged me and let me know friends of hers had a bed and some other furniture they would like to give me. Days after the fire I couldn’t even comprehend buying underwear, much less what furniture we would need. My brain was broken, it didn’t function. I’m not…

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Anger, Guilt and A Lot of Woe Is Me

When you write a nasty message to a company on Facebook at close to midnight remember that there is a human being on the other end managing that social media account that gets a ping to their phone. And then they read the message. And then they can’t sleep. Because they’ve had such a year…

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How Are Things? A Loaded Question

I often have people ask me, “How are things?” If they are truly interested in how things actually are, there’s typically a sideways glance attached to the question. Their eyebrows are raised slightly in the center and they always shrug and nod their head slightly when they ask. It’s almost like they’re afraid to ask.…

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A Couch, More Than A Place to Rest Your Butt by Chris

What is a couch? Would a settee by any other name feel as comfortable? I have a thing about couches. They have to be comfortable, looks are second to comfort, but only a slight second. I got my first couch right after I graduated from college, back when I really had no idea what was…

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On Shooting Guns, Crying and Time Travel by Chris

Three hours before the fire I walked into our bedroom and woke my sleeping husband (he works overnights, or at least did, before the fire). “Hey, we have that gun safety class at 3:00. Do you want me to reschedule since you’re feeling bad or are you feeling up to it?” He half opened an…

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Mourning Trees by Chris

Last Thursday was April 6th. Seven years ago on April 6th, we signed the papers for our house. We received the keys. Actually, we forget to get the keys at closing and called our realtor laughing as we realized we had to go back to the title company to get them. I remember opening the…

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Running the Race by Chris

I am not a natural runner. My body is far from slim, my legs are not long. Gazelle-like is not how I would describe myself. I mean if I had to describe myself as an animal it would certainly be more along the lines of momma bear; fierce, strong, protective of her family, determined and…well…

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Rental Forks by Chris

I remember asking a few questions to every person the day of the fire. The first was, “How do I tell my almost 4 year old that I burnt down our house and that her dog is dead?” The other question was always, “I don’t know what to do, what happens next?” That second question…

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Facebook is Hard, by Chris

It’s hard to scroll through facebook. I see posts about how annoying it was that the line at the DMV was long, obscure post about life being terrible, annoyances at phone issues, the weather, starbucks getting an order wrong. I read these and want to reply with, “I watched my house burned down.” Perspective. I’ve…

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