Thursday was a special day. My grandson graduated from 5th grade, and it was his last day of school. That afternoon, we were going to pick up his older sister so she could spend some time with us over the summer break. On the way, we were driving up this street and saw black smoke. My grandson said that smoke looks like metal is burning. So, we drove by slowly to make sure the house wasn’t on fire and the house definitely was on fire. We turned around and ran up the driveway to see what we could do to help. Another lady was standing in the yard on the phone with 911. When we reached the house, there was a lady helping an elderly man off of the porch. The police showed up and helped get him into a car where they could drive him away from the fire since he was having trouble breathing.
Once everyone was in a safe place and the firetrucks started showing up, we just stood and accessed the situation. This was Papa’s house. His daughter, her husband and their six children (ranging from 8 months to 8 years old) all lived in this home. Mom and dad were not at home. We could only find two of the children so the neighbor (who was also a cousin) called to make sure mom had the other kids with her. Thank God she did. Papa was the only one home and the two kids were playing in the yard when the fire started. The police learned that Papa had some type of device; I’m not sure if it was oxygen or something for his heart but he only had 30 minutes remaining on the battery. The charger was in the house and there was no way of getting to it. They quickly called an ambulance and transported him to the hospital to make sure they could keep him alive.
Mom and dad show up separately around the same time. Mom parks her car in the neighbor’s front yard and runs up to the house in tears. At this point, the other 4 kids are still in the car, so me and my grandson just hang out by the car talking to the kids and trying to keep them calm. Mom starts freaking out then she realizes that their two dogs aren’t anywhere to be found. She is weeping as she is watching her home burn up in flames. Her cousin is standing next to her with her arm around her trying to comfort her saying “Everyone is ok. All of that stuff inside the house can be replaced. You guys can’t”. Several minutes passed and we were still trying to entertain the kids while their parents were dealing with everything. All of the sudden, mom comes running with their two dogs. The kids started crying out of pure happiness that the dogs were still alive.
This was such a humbling experience. I don’t think that I have ever watched a house burn like that before and I hope I never have to watch that again. It is hard to believe how your entire life can change in a blink of an eye. Dad was at work. Mom ran to the store. And in the few short minutes she was gone, their family lost everything. I cannot imagine how they felt. All of their clothes, furniture, pictures, toys, personal belongings gone forever. Their home. Their safe haven. Every single thing. But they had each other. I pray for this family. I pray they have a support system to help them get through this tragedy. I pray they can rebuild and be stronger together. I pray for their well-being and mental health. Such a sad moment in their lives. A moment that will never be forgotten. A moment me and my grandson will remember. Even though we never met this family, we felt a connection with them. Some type of indescribable love, compassion, sadness. Yet happiness to know that everyone was ok and it could have been so much worse. Thank you, Jesus for protecting this family.
As I stood amongst this family in a moment of complete vulnerability, I could not help but to be consumed with guilt. I felt guilty that I still had a home to go home to. I still had all of my belongings. Nothing in my life had changed. Other than witnessing somebody else’s life change forever. It is a helpless feeling. But I know that I have gone through several hardships in my life where I was the one whose life had just changed, and other people were there to support me. I guess that is a part of life. Just be there for each other and help other people when you can. Even if it is just standing with them and not letting them process whatever traumatic event they are facing alone.
I know this family has a long healing process ahead of them. I just pray that God is good to them. I wish I could do more to help. I guess when you can’t physically or financially do anything to help, you can always pray that God will do everything that you wish you could do. And He can do even much more than that.