So, almost anyone who reads my blog posts knows that we suffered a tragic house fire on March 7, 2014.  The song that comes to mind is, God Bless the U.S.A.  “If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life, and I had to start again as just a mother and a wife…”

Above is what our home looked like, probably in late September, 2012 or 13.  We built this house in the summer of 1992, and moved in on September 26th, following a week long honeymoon in England.  I remember we had minimal furniture, lots of space, and no kids….though there was a room upstairs just waiting for them.

In April of 1994 our family grew by one, when Christian arrived, and in 1996 we were complete, when Andrew came into the world.  We celebrated birthdays, chicken pox, ear infections, lost teeth, first days of school, Halloweens, and Music Fests, Christmases and Thanksgivings…First Hair cuts, first steps.

On March 6, 2014 the boys were 19 and 17.  One home from college and the other a senior in high school.  The house?Warm, and comfortable, like an over stuffed chair.  We had accumulated 22 years of life and memories.

The morning of March 7 dawned beautiful.  The sun was out.  Kerry had gone to work, and I had completed my office work, before heading north to coach a quartet. Andrew had gone to school on the bus, and Christian was still sleeping when I left.  Fast forward to 3:50 in the afternoon.  Kerry called.  Our house was on fire.  He couldn’t tell me how bad it was.  Christian could only tell me (when I called and started driving home) that it was bad.

March 7, 2014: 

And March 8, 2014:

I took lots of pictures and vented a fair bit on Facebook over the last 8 months….I will, through this blog, take you along on the journey….