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Our Guardian Angel Year 1980

It was one of those wintery nights, cold with sleet hitting the windows.  A night for hot chocolate and cuddling on the couch.  It had been misting all day, sticking to everything it touched.

At our little house, our children, ages 5 and 2, were fast asleep in their room down the hall.  Daddy and I were setting together on the couch admiring the new wallpapered hall way wall and the new paneled wall in the living room we had just completed. It was Saturday night, just before Christmas.

 We woke Sunday morning to the same sound, the sound of sleet hitting the windows.  "I'm afraid we are in for a problem with electricity if this keeps up" daddy said as we set down for breakfast. We had no idea that just outside our back door at that very minute something was happening that we would remember for a lifetime.

We were all in our jammies--all but daddy that is--he would soon leave us and drive up the road a mile to start chores.  So with a kiss to each of us, he put on his old chore coat and cap, walked out into the gray day, hopped into the old red pickup and drove away.  Drove away not knowing---

I busied myself clearing off the breakfast dishes and putting away the cereal and milk, wondering what we should do first. 

"Mommy can DD and me go to the basement and ride the tricycle?" asked DS  "Sure" I said, "I will call to you when I'm ready to get you dressed for the day."

I put the last dish in the dishwasher, turned it on and headed for the bathroom.  I was just picking up my comb when I heard it.  That terrible boom, felt the shaking of the house.  What on earth I wondered...a sonic boom?

"Mommy the house is on fire!!"  Oh no...that was DS!!  What's happening??  I run to the basement stairs.  I stare down those steps and see two priceless little faces looking up at me, wide eyed, smoke filling the air between us. Oh no this just can't be happening...but it was.

Don't smell smoke...don't smell the smoke, kept going over and over in my mind.  I took a deep breath, held it, and ran down the stairs, grabbed my babies and started back up--than stopped.

"Oh know--the steps are on fire, what do we do"  "No mommy it isn't the steps, its the furnace" said DS.  "O thank goodness"  Up we ran, out the back door, to our old blue car.  We needed to get to the neighbors and fast.  Get help.

I reached for the key, and no key.  Oh great--wonderful.  They were on top of the refrigerator just inside the back door.  "You guys stay here--don't move--I'll be right back"  This  is when I did the  worse most dangerous thing a person could ever do.  I ran to the back door, opened it and went in.  The smoke was so thick I could hardly make out the refrigerator.  I reached up--felt the keys--grabbed them--and ran to the car.

As we were backing out we looked at the house and saw flames shooting into the gloomy sky. It was eating out beautiful home alive.  This just can't be happening--but it was.

When Amos opened the back door, there we stood, the kids in their jammies and me in my robe--hair hanging down.

"What on earth--come in" said Ruth. ' We need the fire station" I screamed our house is on fire"  "Oh my land child "Ruth cried running to her old black phone on the wall.  "Amos it is dead" she said.  Oh course our fire put all phones out-- it was a party line.

"You kids stay here with Ruth and I will go with Amos for help" I told two little bundles.  Ruth gave me some boots and out we ran to Amos old truck.  We had just turned the corner when I remembered my husband.  "Oh Amos you must take me to S.  He don't know about this."  So around we turned and I ran to S. and told him the worse thing he has ever heard.  "Our house is burning."  We turned to see Amos' old truck disappear out the drive on the way for help.

We stood there -- my husband and I-- holding a water hose, with no water, watching helplessly as our first home filled with smoke, the roof falling into the flames.  Oh no--this couldn't be happening--but it was. How beautiful the sound of the whistle of that fire truck.  How beautiful were those men who jumped out to help us.

Hours later we walked into the same back door daddy had felt from hours before.  Oh my!! The old piano stood in front of the paneled wall. Our table sat by the window. covered in ashes.  The refrigerator stood lopsided streaked in smoke.  Lopsided because of a hole in the floor, right where I had stood when I so foolishly went for the keys.  The lights hung from their cords the bulbs all blown out. Smoke, smoke everywhere.  Streaking down everything.

We walked to the bedrooms.  A Bible laid on the end table by our unmade bed.  In the kids room their toys were a big ball of melted plastic.  On the hangers hung little pieces of material that once was cloths.  Snow covered their beds.  It was all gone--our house was gone, but we were so terribly thankful--as we stood there, snow falling softly around us.  So thankful we were alive and across the road in that old farm house were our dear children waiting for us.

"We could call mom and dad to come get the kids" I told my husband. "No not yet" was his reply.

We went to Grandpa and  Grandma's for the night.  As we entered the bedroom daddy started to move the twin beds together.  We all four got into that big bed, our little bumpkins between us, and daddy's strong farmer arms around us all, holding us there as tears fell down checks.  "Ok" my husband said  "I'm ready to let them go"

I don't know if there are guardian angels or not, but the firemen and insurance agent told us of a number of things that could of happened, but didn't.  They told us we were super lucky.  We knew-  Yes super lucky.  Super blessed.  We never took each other for granted again. Never.     

Comments

  1. I remeber so well when we heard about your fire. We were so thankful that you made it out safely. Love you all!

    ReplyDelete

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