11 days ago my family, including our sweet dog Buzz was safely outside staring at our house burning down. We lost almost everyTHING in that fire, including our cars. Everyone is ok, and honestly as quickly as it happened, I’m so very grateful for that. That is a picture of my living room the next day. I’ve met with clients in that living room. There is an antique birth stool on the table in the center of the picture that was a gift to me from my mother in law. I do NOT recommend losing your home and everything in it, including your cars, in a house fire, but I want to share a few lessons with you about it here:
Our Community is Amazing!
There were 7 fire trucks at my house in less than 15 minutes. That was impressive. They were all so incredibly kind, and I even got to see a familiar face who took a selfie with me…yes, seriously. Our neighbors came out to put clothes and shoes and blankets on us immediately. We sat in one neighbors’ house when it started to rain. We have had an endless stream of kindness coming our way ever since, and honestly have never felt so surrounded in love.
My doula community both here and around the world has also come together to help us feel the love. My doula mentor Robin Elise Weiss, who many moons ago also had a house fire, has been indispensable! She seriously ran a board meeting for me y’all. I’ve gotten messages from Australia, Germany, California, Canada, Mexico, and sooo many other places, and my heart is so full right now because of them.
2 Small Things
We had a small fire-proof box with all our important documents inside it like our marriage certificate, passports, etc. Get one if you don’t already have one and go make sure all your important documents are actually in it if you do. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Seriously, go check them! They can save you. If you don’t have one in your garage already, do that too!
Choose Kindness
There have been incredibly kind people that we’ve interacted with, and then there have been the outlier jerks. When in doubt, choose kindness every single time. I have learned so much about trauma and recognized much of it in myself and my family these past 11 days. We will continue to focus on the goodness and laugh about the ridiculous people, but seriously, choose to be kind to everyone you meet. You never truly know what someone else is dealing with in their life.
Pieces are starting to fall into place for what our life is going to look like for now. We’ve rented a house already where we can stay for the next year if we need to. Life goes on, and we are so thankful for all the kindnesses and for each other more than ever before really. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us. Doula life continues, and I’m so grateful for the awesome team here that has provided seamless services as I’ve worked to get back to my managerial role. They have continually amazed me as I asked them to step into some roles that I typically have filled. I seriously LOVE this community more now than I even probably could have before this fire. Thank you.