Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Aftermath

After finding out our house was gone, we decided to take things one step at a time. We first had to figure out what to do with the cats. I don't know if you've ever tried to find a hotel that allows cats, but they simply don't exist. Many say they are pet friendly, until you go to check in and they tell you except for cats! We found a place that was boarding animals for free for fire victims, Pets Without Parents, so we stopped by there and felt comfortable enough to leave Cali and Missy. Then we had to figure out lodging for ourselves.

We had a place to stay for Thursday through Cabins for You if we wanted it, and then we would go from there. It was Wednesday, and we knew the best place for us to be was in church. That was the best decision we made, and we were blessed many times by making that decision. Pastor Brent had all of the families who lost their homes stand up and he prayed for all of us. We all met with him after church and he gave us money and gift cards to Walmart so we could get the kids new clothes for school. When we went to get the clothes, we didn't keep track of how much we were spending. We just figured we would use our savings to pay for the rest. When we went to check out, the amount was exactly the amount we had gift cards for. Not a coincidence, but a blessing by God. 😊

We were also given a telephone number to a place called Wafloy Mountain Village and told they may have a place for us to stay. This was the third time someone had mentioned Wafloy to us, so we figured that was probably another sign from God and that we should call them. It turned out they did have a place for us to stay, and they told us we could stay for 30 days. What a blessing! That would give us enough time to figure out our next step.

School was back in session on Thursday, and we were all in good spirits. 

The school provided us with overwhelming love and support. They gave the kids book bags, school supplies and signed us up for free meals for the rest of the school year. Before Christmas the school board gave each child who had lost their home $250. Every day when we would pick up the kids they were giving us gift cards, money and Christmas presents. It was unbelievable. 

After we dropped the kids off at school, we headed to Wafloy for the first time. That is when we met Chad and Jennifer Eidemiller, the couple who runs the camp. They showed us the house where we would be staying, Hemlock. Jennifer had filled the table and refrigerator with food for us. It was unbelievable. We have never felt so much love from strangers in our lives. We were speechless. Since then, they and their children have become such good friends of ours. We love them and know that God gave them to us for a reason. It feels good to now have friends here! We were happy when it was just the five of us, but God was not satisfied with that. He wanted us to have more! What a tremendous feeling that he has blessed us with the Eidemillers. They are amazing people! Oh, and they also have arranged for us to stay here until our house is built!!! God is so good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

On Friday, we were told we could get into Gatlinburg with ID. What a process that was! Everybody and their brother was trying to get into Gatlinburg. We had to fill out paperwork and wait in line for over an hour before we finally got in. The sun was shining especially bright that day!

We look just a wee bit tired! 😀

Driving into Gatlinburg was like nothing I have ever seen, except maybe in the movies. The destruction is undescribable. Some places were completely burnt to the ground, while others were untouched right next to it. This is the first sight we had of our house on the road down below.
You can see Brett's trusty little Vue sitting there, with the rental cabin, Aaron's Lodge, in the background. No sight of our beloved green treehouse. I'm not going to lie, I broke down. I was angry. Why were there rental cabins left untouched, while our home of memories was burned to the ground? It didn't seem fair to me. But, you all know, I have this amazing husband with faith like a rock, and he talked me down from that negativity quickly! Before we even got out of the van, I think. 😀

As we headed up the road, I noticed how brightly the sun was shining. This was a reminder to me that there is a light at the end of the darkness. We will get through this and we will be stronger than ever.

These were the first things we saw driving up our driveway, the only things we were able to save. People kept telling us we would be able to salvage some things. In a house fire that firefighters are fighting, maybe. But there were no firefighters battling this fire. It burned until God opened up the skies with rain. 

Next we saw Brett's truck. The red x means that it was searched and no one was found inside. This trusty guy had over 235,000 miles on it and we never had any problems with it. We never thought a fire would be it's demise! It was definitely worth more to us than the insurance company claimed it was worth! 😁





The fire was so hot that it melted the rims right off! Brett picked this whole piece up and moved it. I wanted to keep it for wall decor but of course insurance "needed" it.

Here is where the house once stood. You can see that it's mostly ash. Many things were difficult to tell what they even were. 

This was the springs of our mattress. Underneath the was my wedding dress and veil, which I waited 14 years to finally get preserved and boxed! I had bought it with money my mom gave to me from my Grandma when she passed away. It hung in the back of my closet all those years, right where I could see it. I'm so glad for that. 

An old ceramic Christmas tree that I had for years that used to belong to my mom. Just a few weeks before the fire, I reminded the boys not to roughhouse near it because it was special to me.

My essential oils bottles! Jennifer is a top Young Living consultant and she called them and they sent me an essentials kit and are replacing my starter kit. She also have me some of her own things to help with my stress, migraines and sleeplessness. I told you she's amazing!

Just a few decor items I pulled out that were recognizable. And a weight! Oh how we miss doing our workout together each morning!


My stamping buddies will recognize these... All of my framelits! They are cutting dies. Each one was on a magnet card. There were over fifty of them. Every magnet card melted and these were laying in a pile.

This pile of rubble is from both bathrooms that we had recently remodeled. I loved my bathroom and know that Isaac will build me another that is just as great! He knows he'll hear about it if it isn't. Ha! 😂

The kids' toothbrush holder.

A ceramic figurine that Grandpa Skeet had given Janae. This is one of the few burned items we ended up keeping. We thought maybe there was a place that could restore it for her.

This tree had fallen right on Janae's bedroom. Our neighbor who refused to leave said this is the side of the house where the fire started.

A look from the other side.

We bought this fire pit at a fundraiser auction at the kids' school at the beginning of November. We never got to use it since it was so dry and we were afraid it would start a fire. How ironic.

Our brand new refrigerator.

One lone Longaberger stand still standing in the corner of the guest bedroom. It was the only one out of twelve or so that I remember seeing!

Our silverware. The mason jars it was all in were melted away but you can still see the wire rack that held them.

The boys' baseball bats.

My Scentsy candle warmer.

A look up from the bottom. There's another red x indicating they checked the house and found no one. It makes me wonder what time it was that someone last saw our house standing. I sure wish I had taken one final look as we were leaving that night. It's a view that will never be the same again.

The view from the road, before and after. I can't wait to see that double-level deck again!

No comments:

Post a Comment