What do you grab when your house is on Fire?

Four and a half weeks ago the fan on our wood furnace caught fire. It was during the day and most of us were home. Jake was sick and asleep in his bed, Mark had just finished his last midnight shift for the month and was upstairs asleep, Caleb was out of school early, and I was working in my office. I noticed that it smelled a little too hot (which isn’t all that uncommon when it’s 13 degrees and you heat with wood), so I went out to check on it, choked it down a bit more, came back in, grabbed a cup of coffee went back to my office.

When I got back to my desk smoke was coming up from behind my computer – I thought – but by the time I got up and moved the tower the smoke was rolling out from the duct under the desk….and through the rest of the house. I ran to find the source and discovered the North side of the house ablaze. Smoke and flame were blowing into the ductwork of the house.

The rest of the day is a blur of craziness…..we fought the fire with buckets until the fire department arrived (when you are in panic mode you forget the garden hose stored in the basement). Because of the overexertion and smoke (and firefighting barefoot in his underwear), Mark had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital – and Katie (who recently passed the EMT exam) rode with him, Jake and the dog sat in my car until Grandma came and got him. Caleb and I ran through the house gathering what was most precious until we were assured that the fire was no longer burning inside the wall.

Things have been crazy – we lived in a hotel for almost three weeks and worked every evening to try to get the house back in order (at least a more normal chaotic state), but our insurance company has been amazing – they have really taken care of us.

During this entire process all I can think of is how very blessed we are. It could have been so much worse. Jake was asleep 4 feet from the fire – but the fire happened during the day and we got out. The Fire department was here in 6 minutes. Mark is ok. We lost very little (with the exception of the Judy Neal couch…..Mike Heathcoat is pretty upset about that…..). The damage was mostly outside – with just some smoke and mess inside. It has been an inconvenience – but I say again, we are so blessed….and it could have been so much worse.

As I was starting to put things back in place I became very aware of what things are important to me. The pile of some of the items included family photos, the drawing Marlene Webb did of Tyler, our bibles, Caleb’s player of the week football, Eli’s Mr. Bear, and the much loved china doll that my grandparents brought me from Mexico (her name is Senorita…..because what else would you name her?). Some of the other items are the (probably now not politically correct) tea set that Grandma Bain and I used to have tea parties with, belt buckles that Mark’s grandpa earned in the mines, pot holders perfectly crocheted (and I mean perfectly!!) by my Grandma Great (Odom), a Bakelite watch box that was Grandma Dungy’s, and a crocheted bonnet that Grandma Adaleen wore as a baby.

There was also a little coin purse that has sales tickets inside that are made out to Billy Dungy – and marked “paid in full” – because that’s how he did business, and the thing that probably spoke to me the most: a bible presented to Mr and Mrs Kenneth Odom Dec 25, 1945 from Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Odom. There are newspaper clippings and other small momentous tucked in the pages – including the rose she carried when she married my grandpa….it had been a gift from her brother Thurmond. The newest inscription said “presented to my oldest granddaughter Kendee for her 23rd birthday. May it bring you much knowledge in Christ’s Love as it has served me 45 years. Your Loving Grandma – Adaleen “Nanna”.

As we work on the repairs to the house, I’m also reminded of the hardest working man I ever knew, who tore down a school house and rebuilt it into this place 80 years ago. It amazes me to see his work inside the walls (now open and available for view) – the sills carved of black oak – as strong now as it was then because of the care he put into it. This house, built by a man with a third grade education – not because he wasn’t a good student – but because he CHOSE to send his brothers in the available shoes instead of go himself, has been a place of refuge for brothers, their wives, and their children, sons, and grandkids. I’m so grateful that it still stands – prepared to continue in service to our family as the heritage continues.

For me, when my house was on fire, the things that were important were the people I love – the heritage that was given to me – or the heritage that is being built on the foundation of the ones who came before. As we began to put the pieces back together, I have been touched by so many memories – all good – of family who built a foundation on the love of Christ, hard work, and undying love for their kin. I am so blessed.

NOTE:  Mark and Kendee Pemberton have been friends of mine most of my adult life.  They are the type of friends that we do not cross paths much, but when we do we talk awhile.

They live in the northeastern part of the county.  This was originally a blog post, and gracefully she gave me the permission to use it. -Steve