Daffodils are beginning to poke their heads through the still hardened ground, along with some other plants, of which I cannot identify. Neighbors are starting to come out of hibernation, and kids on bicycles, and playing driveway basketball are making their appearances. The only thing missing so far are the woodchucks, but I'm sure they'll make their appearances soon enough.
Life returns here amongst the organic inhabitants, and just four houses down from me, life also returns to something inorganic, but no less alive. The phoenix begins to rise from the ashes of a November evening last year that could have been worse than it turned out. A family was uprooted, as their house was blown to embers.
They took refuge in an apartment complex that was basically across the road as they planned what to do. Ultimately, they decided to rebuild. They could have just bailed, as all their kids are grown and are out of the house, but they decided that they had too much invested in that home to simply walk away from it, even though it would not be what it once was.
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It is skeletal in nature right now, but by the end of the spring, beginning of the summer, it will breathe with life again as the family that was forced to abandon it suddenly will return to it.
While the most important thing was that they were not at home when the fire broke out, our
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While they will be returning to a house that will not be quite the same one they bought over 20 years ago, it will afford a new beginning mixed with familiar things. They will have many of their possessions, their memories, and their neighbors there when they return.
Most importantly, they will have their lives.
6 comments:
Fantastic post in that you would feel such renewal though the life of others, Mr. Nighttime, you are indeed special.
It's a pleasure to see this rebirth during the first days of spring Mr Nighttime.
Although your neighbors experienced a tragedy, much of what is most precious in life remained intact.
This is a lovely post. It's always warming to hear about incidents that bring the local community together in the form of the kindness of neighbours.
Sister - thank you so much. It is good to see this house coming back to life.
Peter - Yes, they escaped with the clothes on their backs, but the fact that they were able to save a lot of their memories was just as important in many ways.
Cake- Many of the neighbors gave them money, or other important things that they needed to get by on.
BTW, You are quite brave doing what you did. Your comments section was turned off, so I'm letting you know through here. I hope it all turns out for the best.
What wonderful neighbours to go in there and salvage the family's life. My fear of the house going up in flames is mostly to do with losing paperwork and memories (now that we have no dogs - obviously they would have come first), and there's so MUCH of it. I must springclean ...
It's good that they're rebuilding. If they decide to move on afterwards, well, they have the satisfaction of having overcome the disaster, and they'll have a saleable property.
Very heart-warming, Mr. N.
What's even better is that, even in these tough times, people can rise again.
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