October is nationally recognized as Fire Prevention Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month (along with many other good causes) but these three have specifically touched my life. Come step into my everyday ordinary life…..
It’s funny how certain dates stick in my mind…not needing to be written on the calendar in order to not be forgotten…not needing programmed into my phone to be sent as a gentle reminder…they're there as a permanent memory. October 14, 1974 started out as an ordinary day for my family…it ended anything BUT ordinary. My four siblings and I went to school as usual. My dad headed to the field...it was harvest season. My mom and baby sister came to school to eat hot lunch with us.
We left school that day on Lyle Mock’s bus headed west of town just like it did every day. The closer the bus got to our house the more obvious it was that the black cloud of smoke hovering over our farm was coming from the house. I can still see the flames shooting through the roof of my sisters’ bedroom 39 years later. Exiting the bus I remember standing in disbelief watching as everything we owned was snatched up by a relentless thief. The local volunteer firemen were unable to control the fire and we lost everything…well as a 12 year old girl it seemed like everything but we still had the most important things we needed…each other. No one in our family of 8 was harmed by the fire and that was the greatest blessing.
October 14, 1974 can also be remembered as a day of starting over…rebuilding. It’s in times like this that you see how compassionate people are. Friends, neighbors and relatives offered everything we needed including a place to live. Although the 2 bedroom mobile home seemed small for our large family, it did provide all we needed and we were grateful. Amazingly, you discover how little it really does take to live when you are forced to downsize …that there are so many things you can live without. Three short months later we moved into the new home that had been built in the very spot the old house had stood…literally building “beauty from ashes”.
**Now would be a great time to check to see if your fire alarms are working properly & put in a new battery. Also, think about doing something kind for your local fire department to show your appreciation for their service.
It’s funny how certain dates stick in my mind…not needing to be written on the calendar in order to not be forgotten…not needing programmed into my phone to be sent as a gentle reminder…they're there as a permanent memory. October 14, 1974 started out as an ordinary day for my family…it ended anything BUT ordinary. My four siblings and I went to school as usual. My dad headed to the field...it was harvest season. My mom and baby sister came to school to eat hot lunch with us.
We left school that day on Lyle Mock’s bus headed west of town just like it did every day. The closer the bus got to our house the more obvious it was that the black cloud of smoke hovering over our farm was coming from the house. I can still see the flames shooting through the roof of my sisters’ bedroom 39 years later. Exiting the bus I remember standing in disbelief watching as everything we owned was snatched up by a relentless thief. The local volunteer firemen were unable to control the fire and we lost everything…well as a 12 year old girl it seemed like everything but we still had the most important things we needed…each other. No one in our family of 8 was harmed by the fire and that was the greatest blessing.
October 14, 1974 can also be remembered as a day of starting over…rebuilding. It’s in times like this that you see how compassionate people are. Friends, neighbors and relatives offered everything we needed including a place to live. Although the 2 bedroom mobile home seemed small for our large family, it did provide all we needed and we were grateful. Amazingly, you discover how little it really does take to live when you are forced to downsize …that there are so many things you can live without. Three short months later we moved into the new home that had been built in the very spot the old house had stood…literally building “beauty from ashes”.
**Now would be a great time to check to see if your fire alarms are working properly & put in a new battery. Also, think about doing something kind for your local fire department to show your appreciation for their service.