Over the years, I have found myself becoming more pessimistic and cynical about the world, about the actual good in people, and why bad things happen to those that deserve it least, and yesterday was no exception. Yesterday afternoon, while having some roofing work done, Bill and Karen's house caught on fire. They were miraculously fortunate in that the fire was very quickly contained and extinguished, and all people and animals were unharmed. There is a long road of clean up and reconstruction ahead of them, though. The grace and composure with which they are dealing with this situation is so admirable, and I can only hope that those qualities come to me with age, because I was a hot mess yesterday!
I have always attached strong memories to scents, as many people do.. the smell of my grandparents house, the ocean, grass after a rain, the smell of my babies' necks, to name a few.. and the smell of walking into Bill and Karen's home. I felt so welcomed from the very first time I walked in, and the hundreds (thousands?) of times after.. the thought of walking in there and not having it smell the same breaks my heart. Justin assures me that by our visit at christmas, the smell of paint, drywall, plaster and plywood will once again be replaced by "their" smell.
That house is full of so many memories for so many people, I am so grateful to the volunteer firefighters that responded so quickly to save it. Hopefully my next blog post will be more lighthearted, but for today, this is what you get :)
