The View from Here

i just piled into my cozy bed with my sweet husband and our two dogs. The smell from the massive fire at the apartments just steps from our home still permeating the air. My heart aches for the people who lost everything in the fire today, and I feel gratitude and humbleness that our home and animals were spared. Had the weather conditions been altered in any way, had we not gotten a soaking rain yesterday, we would be facing a radically different evening. We both feel that we experienced a miracle today. 

   
 Today made me think yet again about what is really important to me. When we got the word at the theater about the raging fire at the apartments just steps from our cherished home, I could only think of two things aside from my worry about the residents of the apartments- our animals inside and my clarinets. The drive from the theater to our home seemed interminable, and standing there for hours watching the blaze and wondering if it would spread to our trees and then to our home was incredibly stressful and sad. The house means so much, but possessions can be replaced…lives can’t.  My priorities were sharply defined today; Dan, the animals- my family…and then the physical possessions of our home. Life and love are always the most important treasures. 

When things calmed down and we finally came inside our home, I had a jolt of memory. I have had an irrational fear of fire since our neighbor’s home was destroyed by arson and there was an attempt to set our home on fire when I was a child. I will never forget walking through the charred remains of the house next door, will never forget their sadness and loss.  Even today, I have anxiety about leaving the dogs in the house. Right before we left for the theater, a strong wave of worry washed over me, and I found two stickers in my desk drawer that I set out to have Dan put at our front and back doors. 

  
I felt chills go over me when I picked them up and brought them downstairs to show Dan. They had been in my drawer forgotten for years, but for some reason today I found them. I think my Guardian Angel is working overtime, from sending a warning to keeping the fire from spreading. I am nothing but grateful tonight.