Rising from the Flames
A Family's Story of Losing their Home to a Fire
By Jse

Do you think your life is bad? Low-paying job? Troubles with your significant other? Maybe a bad home life? Well, how would you feel if you had no home life, because it was all lost in a fire? My family and I had our “home” and our life seriously altered in a matter of minutes and now we're all just a mere shell of our former selves.

None of the everyday worries that people have are issues we worry about on a daily basis anymore, instead we worry about how we're going to get back on our feet, when and how we're going to get a stable place to stay, wondering how many wash-cycles it takes to clean the smell of smoke out of the last remaining clothes we have, and even wondering about who we can actually ask for assistance without putting our dignity and self-respect in jeopardy.

I was at school when the whole thing took place. When class ended I read a startling text message that my sister had sent me. It read, “The house is on fire!” My younger sister was going to be graduating from high school in a couple of days and I thought my family was trying to rush me home so we could celebrate with a barbeque, but boy was I wrong! As soon as I got home I was looking for the reassurance that my family was okay. After meeting up with them, my very first question was “Is my guitar okay?”

I waited until the firefighters left and I was the first to walk in. It was a totally surreal sight to see the destruction the fire had inflicted, especially because this place was such a big part of my everyday life. What a sight for me, to see my house in a blackened, melted, destroyed state of being was a huge shock and really difficult to accept. We have gone back several times to salvage whatever we could, but in most cases the stuff is too dirty from the smoke or just not really worth anything at all anymore. Since then we've been staying with family members but honestly, there is no place like home.

Personally speaking, it has been a rough situation for me because I feel like I'm on a road trip that doesn't end and I just want to go home. Also it seems as if I think about the situation everyday, especially when I'm tired or hungry. I think about “home” because there are times when I just want to “let my hair down” and of course I also think of “home” because of home cookin'!

Various people have said to me that I look “unaffected” by the whole situation and I reply “how should I look?” I guess I can understand what they mean to a certain extent, but what they don't know is that I have a couple of secrets which help me stay less “effected.”

•  No drugs
•  No alcohol (except only at a party)
•  No sex
•  Plenty of water
•  Vitamin B12 in liquid form
•  Plenty of recuperative sleep

For the rest of our lives June 5th, 2006 will forever exist in infamy in our minds, especially in mine because the next day 06.6.06 was supposed to have been the day of a killer metal show and a memorable day all together, but now it'll be a memorable day for a different and much more unpleasant reason. Ultimately, whatever situation you've got going on, believe me when I say this as sincerely as possible, it could be worse! Trust me.

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