burning down the house

[psocoptera]

What, too soon?

People have probably already read this in Josh's lj but for those who haven't: an electrical fire in the downstairs unit last night took out a sizeable chunk of our house. We are all okay! We got the kids out quickly and are all completely fine (including the downstairs neighbor). However the house is unliveable without major cleaning/renovation which may take months. ("Three" has already turned into "six" here...) Mostly smoke damage and debris rather than direct fire damage although there was some of that too. We're meeting with some cleaners tomorrow and should have more of an idea after that what's recoverable and what isn't. We're staying with Chaos right now, probably looking for a furnished rental soon. People are starting to ask "is there anything I can do" - honestly, at some point there probably is going to be something but we don't know quite what it is yet. Just, everything is in such a shambles, I find it comforting to think that we have people out there. I am mostly keeping it together (for Junie, if nothing else) but I... have a lot of sad. I know "it's just stuff" but an awful lot of our stuff had either a practical function or happy memories, and, yes, I did whine about being overwhelmed by Stuff but this is not how I would have chosen to solve that problem. (Although... it is very tempting to use this as an unexpected opportunity to solve every Stuff-related problem we've ever had, ranging from the serious ("is this actually a good house for our family, long-term") to the ridiculous ("oh, I'm so sorry, Aunt Hypothetical, that ugly vase didn't survive the fire").)

Comments

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

MAN.

I'm so sorry you and the family had to go through that, but I'm SO glad that you're all okay.

I keep thinking of mostly foolish things to say, but basically it all boils down to: MUCH LOVE and let us know if and when we can help.

<3

[tanyareed.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to hear abut the fire! I'm relieved everyone got out okay and that you have help if you need it.

[sheepboyofchaos.livejournal.com]

Wow. Let us know if you will need anything from us now or in the future.

[tapas.livejournal.com]

Very glad everyone is ok. Hope Junie is taking the 'stuff' issues in stride and that any favorite lovies made it out?

[prof-fran.livejournal.com]

I have an Aunt Hypothetical vase too. Can I claim it destroyed in your fire?

Even though it's just Stuff, losing it is a trauma. It's been taken away from you quickly without consultation or choice and that's scary and sad. It's worth being kind to yourself. And know that we love you all and hope that we can help, in any way. *HUGS*

[randysmith]

I'm really sorry. And yes, "Is there anything I can do?" When I read Josh's post, I figured "a couple of days", and the second one, "a week or two". Now it's months??!! I'm glad you're hanging in there, but I'm really sorry this happened.

[adfamiliares.livejournal.com]

Very scary — glad you're ok. It's totally reasonable to be sad about the stuff.

[jaipur.livejournal.com]

Awww--I didn't realize that even though everyone made it out ok, you'd actually lost stuff. :( That is very hard (I often fantasize about starting over again having lost everything in a fire, but yeah, actually doing it is another issue all together). ::hug hug hug::

[myalexandria.livejournal.com]

Oh man! I just saw this (no internet at home now, probably not checking lj much for the next few months, blah blah). I'm so sorry! I have some personal recollections of how disorienting and sad-making this situation is and you have all my sympathy :-(

[gallian.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear. So glad everyone is safe.
If my being-local properties can be useful to you, I am happy to help and Chaos has my number.

[ccommack]

Holy swizzlecrap, you guys.

Glad everyone is physically OK. I'm sorry all y'all have to go through all this sad-making.

At the point where people can do things, let us know?