Throw Back Thursday: House Fire

In 2009, when I was fifteen, I got a call that changed my life. At the time I was in a club called Math League where club members from different schools competed against each other by doing math problems in a quiz format...I can explain! They gave us free cookies J and I really love cookies. But truthfully I enjoy Math and always have. This was a fun club with fun people that I got to hang out with after school on Mondays. It also looked good on my resume. (looking back, I've never once put this on a resume)

Back to the story. While sitting on the bus heading back to school from our Math League competition, I attempted to call my parents so I could get a ride home. However neither of my parents would answer their phones. I thought it was strange since this had never happened before but I simply continued talking with my friends while waiting for them to call back. Soon enough my phone rang and the caller ID said, “Mom”.

“Mom, why didn’t you answer? I called like three times!” I exaggerated.

“Sarah…the house burned down.” My mother responded solemnly.

Silence. The first thought that ran through my head was, “She’s joking. There’s no way…” Then I remembered who had called and knew that my mother would not joke about something like this.

My next thought, “My books!”

Looking back I laugh at this, but the truth is I have been writing books in notebooks, on pieces of paper, and on my laptop since the age of four. To me, these books are all parts of my soul.

Then after these quick thoughts I then realized the most important thing but before I could ask, my Mom answered, “No one was hurt. Sadly the firemen were unable to save Carly but everyone else is okay.”

I sighed a little after the good news.

Carly was our pet parakeet, it was sad to lose her but she lived a good long life. Our guinea pig, frog, and dog all survived as well as my father and little brother, Jacob, who were home at the time of the fire.

 My bedroom after the fire. My books!!! L 

My father’s room and all of his melted computers.

Then after listening to my mom’s instructions I hung up and all of my feelings hit me. I burst into tears and my friend Emily, who sat beside me, turned in surprise. I was not the type to cry in front of others at that time and this particular friend had never seen me cry before that day. After she heard the news, she hugged and comforted me.

My uncle picked me up at school and brought me back to his house where my family was staying temporarily until we found a place to live. Here my dad brought in donations from our neighbors after watching our house burn. Then after we all hugged and cried (mainly just my mom and me) we all got in the car and drove to my paternal Grandfather’s house where my older brother, Sam, was staying while he attended college.

Here we hugged and explained the situation. Sam sat in his room with Jacob and me, while the adults talked upstairs. To get our mind off of things, Sam showed us videos of his snowboarding adventures and told us his crazy stories.

After adult business was finished, we returned to my Uncle’s house where they had set up a place in the basement for us to sleep. I dug through the clothes our neighbors gave us to find something to sleep in. Afterwards I took a shower with my cousins’ soap and shampoo. However, I could not sleep at all. Tears, unwanted thoughts, and concerns for the future kept me awake.

The next day at school I remember arriving in the neighbor boy’s clothes and feeling awkward. As I sat with my friends in our usual spot before first hour, I somehow struggled to find the right words to explain what happened. Eventually I just said, “Last night, my house burned down.” After those words my friends either asked questions or gave me a hug.

You would be amazed by how slow word gets around when gossip is depressing. Seriously, the only people who knew about the house fire were people I directly told. Maybe because it was such a personal problem people decided to keep the information to themselves.

After the town caught wind of the accident, support flooded in. It surprises me to this day how much a community can come together to help a distraught family. We received clothes, electronics, living essentials, and food from anyone and everyone. The middle school even held a fundraising dance where all the money went towards helping our family get back on our feet. Just thinking about this still brings tears to my eyes six years later. A fellow classmate of mine named, Aaron, was the DJ for this dance and every single penny he was paid to be there he gave to us which added up to almost $200.

Soon my older brother’s girlfriend at the time had a small house that her family wasn’t using at the moment and she offered to let us rent there. Soon we moved into the two bedroom house with our family of four. It was a little cramped but it was still nice and cozy, keeping our family close together…literally.

The living room of our rented house with my old dog, Misty, in the middle. 

Luckily my father is a carpenter and my mother went to college for architectural study. Together, my parents designed and built a new house in the same place as our old house.

It took half a year or so but soon we finished and moved into our dream home.

Frontal view of our nearly completed house.

Although the whole situation could be considered a tragedy. I believe the house fire made me a better person. I now understand the insignificance of certain material goods as well as the importance of others. It also gave me a good comparison point. For example, let’s say I fell out of a go-cart and scrapped up my face the day before school pictures (true story…) this is sad but in comparison to losing everything you own in less than a day, it’s really not that bad. Actually it’s kind of funny. Now I’m able to appreciate and make fun of little misfortunes that others’ may complain about.