The day of the Fire

So my day had been filled by homeschooling our son, Theo, and making a swap for a Facebook group I'm part of.  Swaps are things you make or collect and send of to pen pals all over the global.  I had some errands to do, but I wanted to finish my swap first so that I could send it off in the mail, while I was out doing my errands.  I felt this big urge all day to get out of the house, but I knew if I didn't get my swap done it would be awhile before I time again to finish it and send it off.

Finally, I was done all my swaps.  I quickly texted and call my friends, that I was on my way to pick up my errands.  As I was preparing to get out of the house I let our dog, Rex, out to go pee.  The only thing I thought strange was that he refused to go back in the house.  I literally had to drag him in.  The thought did cross my mind to have him come with us, but I didn't want the hassle of having him with us.  So I shut the door in his face and started off towards the car.  Laughing as Theo had beat me to the car, telling me and the rest of the neighbourhood that he beat me once again.  LOL! Thank You, Lord for Theo.

Even though it was late in the day to go do errands and yes I could have waited till the next day; it was nice to get out of the house.  Theo chatting away in the backseat and us just enjoying the drive to our friends' homes.  We had just left one friend in Niagara Falls on our way to our other friend in St. Catharines, that I thought to call my husband, Jonathan, to see when he'd be home for dinner and what he was in the mood to eat for dinner.  As I call him through the bluetooth in the car; he cuts me off right away and starts asking me where I am. 

I said that "We're on our way to my friend, J's, house. Why?"

 He replies with that our house is on fire.

 "WHAT??? You're joking?" I said.

 "No, Is Theo with you? Is the dog with you?" My husband asks.

 "Theo is with me," I reply, "but the dog is at home".

"Jonathan, why all this questions, the house really isn't on fire I just left twenty minutes ago". I ask.

"I'm not joking with you, Joyce, the house is on fire"! Jonathan replies.

A state of denial kicks in and I hang up on him.  This can't be true; it hasn't been long enough for a fire to start.  I start taking to myself out loud, "I'm driving, focus on driving, don't think.  Just get to my friend's house and then I can demand my husband what kind of sick joke is really going on". 

I get several phone calls while driving, but I think nothing of them while I'm driving, just so focused on getting to my destination.  Theo is peppering me with questions and I had to tell just to wait until Mommy had some more information.  Most of the drive is now a blur and I'm trying to not think about my house being on fire.  "Just reach J's house, just reach J's house", is my mantra.

I get into my friend's driveway and just sit there in a bit of a daze.  Theo asks if I'm getting out, but I'm not focused and shush him, while I listen to my voicemail.  Our landlord and his son, both have called me.  That, yes the house is on fire and that my husband is not joking.  "Oh, God, forgive for thinking my husband was joking to me and for me doubting him"!

We get out of the car and into our friend's home.  She looks at me concerned and asks, "what happened"?

"Our house is on fire apparently" I reply and I plop into her couch.

Theo then starts to cry and now I'm crying with him.  Our friend sits with us and hugs us.

"All my toys are gone, Mommy", Theo cries.

"It's ok, Theo," I reply, "We'll get you new ones.  Just be happy that we are safe and not in the house."

But Theo is now devasted that everything is gone.  I can see his sentiment, but I'm more concerned of his safety and that of Jonathan and I.  Knowing that we are safe, I go into survival mode.  I turn off my tears and hug my son.  Our friend had disappeared for a bit and returned with some Kleenex and a handmade sock teddy. 

"I bought him the other day at the flee market.  I don't know why then, but he's yours now, Theo", our Friend says. 

At first Theo wouldn't even look at the cute sock teddy.  But as he slowly took the sock teddy into his arms, he says, "But he doesn't have a name".

My Friend and I tell Theo that he should figure out a name for his new stuffy. 

After talking for a bit more with my Friend, I realized I was shaking and couldn't stand up without holding on to something.  I then realized I couldn't drive back in my shaky condition.

I tried calling back our landlord, but I couldn't get through to him, so I called his son. Our Landlord's son answered right away and asked what he could do.  He and his wife were on their way to the church, next to our house.  I told him I couldn't drive back home, that I was at my friend's house and couldn't drive in the rain back home. 

Yes it had started to rain.  One concelation that brought some hope that the house wouldn't totally burn down.

"Ok", he replied, "We'll come and pick you guys up".

Twenty minutes later the Landlord's son (Mr. E) and his wife (Mrs. E) came to pick up Theo and I.  The landlord's son suggested that his wife drive back in our car while he drove in his car.  As we were driving back Theo tells me he has a name for his new sock teddy and it's "Ober-Dober".

I know I spoke with Mrs. E about so many things, but trying to remember now it's a blur.  I just remember that feeling of sitting in the arms of the Lord, His arms wrapped around Theo and I. Psalm 23 came to mind and I could literally taste and feel the Lord comforting us.

As we parked by the church parking lot.  I just stared at our house the smoke rising out of the office window, a few flames still eating its way in the sunroom.  Oh my God!  I could feel panic rising through me.  I quietly tell Theo that he needs to stay with Mrs. E, so that Mommy could go and find Daddy.  I push the panic away, not wanting to dwell on it.

As I get across the church parking lot I see our Pastor's wife (Mrs. J) come running towards me giving me a big hug.  At this point I cannot stop the tears from coming out.  We just thanking and praising God that we weren't home and that we are all safe.  Our Pastor also comes and gives me a big hug.  I then ask them if they know where Jonathan is. 

"He's talking to the police and fire chief", says the Pastor.

As I look up towards the house, there is Jonathan walking towards us.  I ran to him.  Crying I hold him tight.  I kept saying "Thank You Jesus you're okay" and "I love you".  It was just a huge reassurance knowing and seeing each other safe; holding on to each other.

Our Pastor asked Jonathan how his hand was.  It was then I realized my husband's hand and wrist were bandaged up and I could see blood.

"It's ok, just a bit tender still", replied Jonathan. 

"What happened", I asked

"Oh, I broke the window to the dining room realizing that Carrie (our parrot) was in there with the door closed.  I wanted to get her before she died of the smoke, but I cut my hand on the glass still stuck to the window frame". 

I hit his arm and said, "you went into a burning house to save your bird"?  "Don't ever do that again"!

Shaking my head at Jonathan, I just hugged him again and thanked God for keeping Jonathan safe.  Jonathan then told me about when he came home he saw some smoke come out the office window and went to open the back door to see if we were inside.  But as he opened the door there was a huge wave of heat and smoke that pushed him back.  Realizing that he couldn't go very far into the house he tried calling for us and the animals.  He did see a puddle of pee on the ground and heard Rex whining downstairs in the basement, but Rex refused to come upstairs.  He then shut the back door and called 911.  As he went to see if Carrie (his $1000 bird) was ok, he noticed that the dining room door was closed and Carrie was softly clucking.  There was another neighbour man that came to help Jonathan break through the dining room window using a rock and a ladder from the yard.  The neighbour across the street didn't know it was Jonathan and called the police on him.  The neighbour's wife said to stop calling the police it was Jonathan.  So the police only came because of the several calls of 911 for the smoke and fire.  Jonathan during this time rescued his bird and placed her in his work van. 

Jonathan told me that the police and fire chief wanted to talk to me.  So I first spoke to the police.  Just a few questions.  Then we walked over to our neighbour’s house who had our dog, Rex, in the back of their truck.  While waiting to talk to the fire chief we opened the back window to the truck so that Rex could see that I was ok.  Rex gave me lots of kisses, to the point I had to use my coat to wipe off my face.  I just gave him hugs and pats letting him know we were all ok and that I was sorry I didn't take him with us. 

Jonathan tugged at my arm to bring me over to talk to the fire chief, as he had just come out of the house just then.  After being introduced the fire chief, he pulled me aside to talk privately.  He asked me a lot more questions and several times repeated the same questions.  I gladly told him all that happened and he asked me to call him back if there was anything more I could remember.

We then asked the fire chief is anyone found our cats.  He quickly asked a couple of the fire fighters to go and look for us.  Short after ten minutes or so, the fire chief came back to us letting us know they found our cats upstairs on either side of our bed.  They didn't make it.

My heart shuttered.  Our kitties were dead.  I knew Theo would be heart broken.  We had two cats, Charlie and Jazzy Girl.  Charlie was six years and Jazzy Girl just two years old.  I would miss them and I still do.

Jonathan and I went back to the neighbour man across the street and picked up Rex and headed back to the church next door.  Jonathan said he called his parents to pickup the dog and the parrot.  They would be here soon. 

As I came into the church, our land lady came and gave me a big hug.  She was crying but we were both just thanking the Lord that we were safe.  After several people coming to hug me and reassure me and themselves that we were okay I got to where Theo was sitting, right in between Mrs. J and Mrs. E.

Holding Ober-Dober, Theo had this kind of blank, shocked look on his face.  Theo was happy to see me and gave me a big hug.  I pulled back and he right away asked if Jazzy Girl and Charlie made it out of the house.  That's when I swallowed a large lump down my throat.  I knew this question was coming and I calmly, as I could possibly be, told my five-year-old son that no they didn't make it out of the house.  That they died from breathing in too much smoke.  Theo threw himself into hugging me, crying.  Tucking his head into my neck not wanting everyone to see his tears.  I cried too.  Know my little man's heart was broken from losing his furry best friend.  Theo did everything with Jazzy Girl.  He even tried one time to give her a sleigh ride the winter before.  She didn't appreciate it and ran back into the house.  But his adventures with her were over.  I cried for all those missed adventures. 

After lots of hugs and a Kleenex to blow his nose and wipe away his tears, Theo finally pulled away and offered me his chair to sit on.  We had already had several people say that we could stay with them, but one by one they started to fall through.  Another dear friend had left a message on my phone that she heard about the fire and said that there was a bed for us to sleep in as well as a bed for Theo to sleep in at her place. 

We were handed a phone charger to help us charge our phones.  Then Mrs. J said she had some left over clothes that someone had donated to the church and wanted to know if I'd take any.  So we went into the office and there were a few things for Jonathan and I but nothing for Theo.  Another sweet lady from church (Mrs. D), came and said that she would go to Walmart with us and pay for whatever we immediately needed.

So we went to Walmart to pick out the necessary items like underwear, pajamas, tooth paste and brushes, socks, some clothes, etc.  Mrs. D made it fun for Theo and helped remind me with items I would've totally bonked my head into a wall for forgetting.

After getting what we thought was enough, we headed to the cashier.  We loaded everything into the car and gave hugs to Mrs. D.

Before we drove to my friend's home (Mrs. K) I prayed with Theo that we would have safe travels to our friends, Mr. & Mrs. K's home.  Off we went.  Theo was really quiet until he realized we were heading towards his friend’s home.  Then Theo started to again pepper me with questions.  Questions of why we were going to our friend's home and where would we sleep.  I told him to stop worrying and that all his questions would soon be answered.

Arriving at our friend's home we were hugged and greeted warmly.  Mrs. K showed us the basement bedroom we were going to stay in.  It had a bed for us and a small cot made up for Theo.  We had our own bathroom including a shower.  It was a slice of heaven in the midst of all our confusion and loss.

After getting Theo settled into bed, Mrs. K, Jonathan and I were talking outside our bedroom.  Mrs. K is a nurse and she asked Jonathan to unwrap his hand so she could see if the bleeding had stopped.  As soon as the bandage was taken off I turned green and so did Mrs. K.  Jonathan also looked pale.  The cut on his finger had stopped bleeding for the most part but you could still see the pumping of the blood, … so nasty!  I can't handle blood very well and neither could Mrs. K or Jonathan. LOL! Mrs. K urged Jonathan to go to the hospital and get it checked out; that needed stitches!

So Jonathan left again for the hospital and I stayed with Theo.  Jonathan obliviously wasn't thinking of the Niagara Falls hospital and ended up going to the St.Catharines hospital.  So by the time he came back to Mrs. K's house it was 6:30 a.m.! 

Reflective notes:

-"Ober-Dober" means something like a guardianship/angel placed over something/one and that everything will be okay.

-Theo has a very interesting knack at giving out names that have deeper meanings.

-As soon I went into survival mode I had peace in my heart.  A lot of people were amazed that I wasn't hysterical or anything along those lines.  I could tell you though that there was a protective bubble around us all.  

-I’ve not included everyone’s names, just their initials.

-We continue to praise the Lord for His goodness in keeping us safe and out of the house. 

-Psalm 23:1, 3a, 4 were a huge comfort for us

‘The Lord is my shepherd.  He gives me everything I need (whether we want it or not).

He gives me new strength.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid.  For You are with me.  Your rod and staff comfort me.’