Fire

Some things happen when you least expect. 

Some things just cannot be explained no matter how hard you try to understand.

Last Saturday a couple of our kids went into the church early with Jeremy to help with the Single Mom's Oil Changes that our church was sponsoring. I got the rest of the kids ready and we headed in for the soccer game where we would meet Jeremy since he was coaching the game.

Kyle and Micah stayed over at the church parking lot where they helped with vacuuming the cars. It was a rainy Saturday. It was cool here too.

I brought the girls home and fixed lunch while the boys finished up at the church with Jeremy. 

I received this text from my mom's phone via my cousin, Danielle......

                                        "Daddy's garage is on fire."

My heart immediately began pounding.

I gasped and scared my girls.

Then tears filled my eyes.

I texted back and asked if Dad was okay. He was safe, thank goodness.

But the magnitude of this fire goes back farther than many realize.

My dad started working on cars when he was 16 years old. He loves working on cars. He worked at a local Sunoco gas station in one of the garage bays while also pumping gas for customers as they drove up to the pump. He did all of this while working full-time at Allegheny Ludlum steel mill. He was a tunnel furnace operator for many years. 

Dad and Mom built that garage 30 years ago. I remember so many details of that construction. I had just broken my arm and my dad was pouring the footer for the foundation. He built a barn style garage with a large bay housing a hydrolic lift for working on cars. The 2-story structure served as the hub for dad's business of painting cars, repairing cars, and for our graduation parties. 

In 2004 the mill offered my dad early retirement (after 35 years of service). Dad and Mom decided to add on to the garage. Another bay was added, Dad's office and bathroom were moved, and they added an entire storage area for his Kubota tractor. The footprint for his garage is 30 X 48. It was pretty big.

Dad spends many hours in that garage. He is often out up and out in his garage around 8am and rarely comes in before 10pm. Mom even struggles to get him inside to eat supper. And to think he is retired!

My parents are some of the hardest working people I have ever known. When dad is not in his garage he is probably outside splitting wood for one of their two coal furnaces (one for the house and the other for his garage). 

In the 30 years of my dad having his own business he has never one time advertised. There has never been a single sign to even let the community know it was a business. Yet somehow every single day my dad had more cars lining the driveway than he thinks he could ever complete. 

My dad serviced the cars for the moms at the local crisis pregnancy center. He rarely closed the shop. When he had to close the shop after my mom's surgery and extended hospital stay...........his customers didn't know what to do. They were in shock that the garage was closed. 

Dad closed his garage rarely but when he did it was always for my mom or us children. With each birth of a grandchild Dad closed his garage. Even when several of those babies were born sick requiring hospitalization, Dad closed up shop. 

When our daughter, Rebecca, was born a little more than six weeks early my dad and mom came to Morgantown, WV to be with us. There was much concern as her lungs were not mature. Customers were calling his cell phone and were confused as to what they were supposed to do. Dad simply told them he would be home when he could. But his granddaughter had a long road ahead and he was prepared to be there.

Dad closed up his shop when he decided to travel to China to meet his youngest granddaughter. His customers did not know what to do. 

So when his garage went up in flames it was devastating!

These photos were taken before any emergency workers arrived. If you look closely you can see my dad and Bill running into the garage in an attempt to save anything. Even though the 911 operator was clear and told my mom that no one was to go back in the garage.

Dad was using his tractor to move some of the debris and the fireman was kind enough to put a helmet on Dad's head in case the structure fell.

This next photo is hard for me to look at. If you look closely you can see my sister consoling my dad with her hand on his back. He is just watching his dreams vanish. His shoulders are slumped. It brings tears to my eyes every time I see this.

Here are a few more of the day.

Jeremy and I made a decision and quickly packed a bag for each of us and loaded up in two cars and drove home to Pennsylvania. It was the right thing to do. 

Jeremy drove his car because he needed to come back for church/work on Sunday. He was there at my parents for just a couple of hours and drove back. I stayed. 

All five of us kids came home. Again, it was the right thing to do. Nothing like an impromptu family reunion!

It was a long night. We stayed up with my parents until 4am. It seemed surreal. But plans were being made to rebuild. Here is what the garage looked like on Sunday.

Sunday also happened to be Mother's Day. It was a beautiful day! We spent the afternoon taking photos with our mom.

Five grandchildren were missing from this photo. But we still enjoyed our time. Personally, I missed my Ben (who rode back with Jeremy) and my hubby.

The community has been so kind to my parents. Food has been brought. A local church youth group came to help with the clean-up. Help has been offered. So many have just stopped by to see how my parents are doing.

While we all know how blessed my parents are that no one was seriously injured it still is a mountain to climb. 

Through it all my parents are handling this with the utmost integrity. 

We praise the Lord that no lives were lost. It was just stuff.

I am blessed to have my family! We are all blessed! 

Please keep them in prayer as we help them rebuild.