After the fire destroyed our apartment on Beech Street, we soon realized that we were going to need to find another place to live. In the meantime, we also needed to salvage what we could of our stuff, clean all our stuff, and find a place to store our stuff. So much stuff!! We were so blessed to have salvaged almost everything we owned and everything that was important to us (pictures, journals, scrapbooks). Our clothes were distributed around the ward (which was a tiny bit weird, actually--but that is not to say we were ungrateful for this service! And it must have been distasteful, as our clothes reeked.) and washed up just fine. Most of my pairs of shoes were lost, though. (So sad!) I had bought some new boots the day before at the outlet mall in Wrenthem and showed them off in the mother's room at church to some of the ladies there. On the morning after the fire, when we were not yet sure what all was usable, our bishop's wife--who had heard how much I liked my new boots--volunteered to drive out to Wrenthem to buy the same pair of boots for me. Luckily my brand new leather boots were saved. But the offer was incredible all the same. This is just one example of so many like instances of incredible thoughtfulness and service. I think I cried more from happiness and overwhelmed gratitude than from sadness, after that first night.
We had so many generous offers for temporary housing and (embarrassing to say it) had our pick of places to live. We accepted our home teacher's offer for several reasons. One of them was that they have five boys (one two days older than Davy) and Davy would fit right in and revel in the activity of the house. And he did fit right in. Laura took our son and adopted him for the week, bathing and dressing him when I was physically and emotionally unable to even think about such duties. Jesse and Laura are both incredibly down to earth and very fun to be around--great traits for anytime but especially in this situation.
Our Relief Society President became my second mother for the week, making sure to give me a hug when she saw me, telling me to take a nap and eat and since I was so newly post-partum she was also was on the watch for any signs of depression.
My visiting teacher took on the full time job of taking care of our stuff and getting it ready to be used when we should find a new place to live. She marshaled forces from her family and the ward to clean our saved furniture, toys, books, pictures, etc. with disinfectant wipes. It was a stinky, messy job but it remarkably turned into a party. It was so fun to see so many of my Activity Day girls there with their moms doing service--on a school holiday, too!
On the Sunday when the fire happened, Collin was packed and ready to fly to Pennsylvania the next day for two weeks for work. His team was kind enough to not require him to go, and to do what work he could from "home." So Collin was able to be with us and start taking care of the immediate needs of getting stuff out of the apartment, stopping the mail, and looking for a new place. We found a few listings on Craig's list and other similar sites. We looked at them, but were not impressed. They would do, but would not be equivalent or better than our previous situation. Then a kind member of our ward referred us to a real estate agent who had done some work with their extended family and had a good relationship with them. We contacted her and she was very kind and attentive to us. She mentioned to us that someone from California (one of the extended family members whose house was sold by the agency, we assume, and with whom we've had little to no interaction) had called to ask that everything possible be done to get us into a home in Belmont as soon as possible. She pulled in her contacts and within a day found us two suitable apartments to look at. Then we had a choice between two good places--one in our current ward and one barely over the border into another. It didn't take long to make our decision. I'm sure there are lovely people in the other ward, but we knew that we needed to be as close to home as possible.
So we signed a contract the next day for a new and nicer apartment. And the next morning, Saturday, several mini vans and suburbans moved our boxes and bookshelves in. It was the fastest and easiest process for a move that we've ever been a part of in the several moves of our marriage. There was no place to sit down in our apartment (we'd lost all the fabric furniture to water and smoke damage) and at one point during the morning I found the nice young woman who had been holding Eddy sitting on the toilet seat to rest her legs. I spent much of the day with Eddy in the sling, nursing him while orchestrating placing and unpacking of boxes. Finally, our RS President had her husband bring over an old armchair from their house so I could sit down to feed the baby. Ahhh, that felt good! We had so many small miracles that day, like a family in our ward who had a gently used top-of-the-line king sized Ikea mattress that they wanted to give us. My cousins brought dining chairs and bath towels. Two of our good friends brought enough groceries to stock our pantry and refrigerator--even my favorite peanut butter and jam!
We have been more blessed than I can even describe in words. I can't remember or don't know all the angels and miracles that surrounded us in this circumstance. I almost feel that this wasn't really a trial--not nearly what it could have been. More than anything, I feel that this was an opportunity for our Heavenly Father to show us how much he knows and loves my little family, and for our ward to draw close together in service and eternal friendship.
Davy loved helping hang pictures, open boxes, and running around in the furniture-less, spacious apartment. He took all the change in stride, which was a blessing. There were a few moments where the stress of it all--the different houses he was staying in, the distracted parents, the lack of toys (until they came back after being run through a dishwasher), etc. caused some behavioral issues, but overall he was a trooper. And now we know why Eddy was born such an easy baby! He has been a sweet dear through it all. The video below is at our home teacher's house, as a reminder that the joy in life is often in the moment, as toddlers are so brilliant at showing us. Your house can be in ruins and the next moment you are playing on the floor with a child and life is good.
