Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Fun Stuff

The title is a lie.. this is totally not fun, but it is somewhat of an explanation on why I've been absent. 






This is what is left of my daughter's home.  The pile of charred fluff just to the left of center was, at one time, her sofa.

J and I were on our way to the hockey game in DC the other night when I get a phone call from my daughter, who was hysterical.  It was strange because I had only just been talking to her 5 minutes before and she was fine.  After I finally got her to slow down I was able to ascertain that her apartment building was currently on fire.  After we hung up she heard sirens outside so she went to her window and looked out, only to observe a growing crowd of people who saw her in the window - who then started yelling for her to get out of there.  She grabbed her purse, her camera and her computer and went outside.  Thankfully the peanut was at her other grandmother's house and did not have to witness her home going up in flames. 

Aside from the few things my daughter picked up on her way out the door, she has lost everything she owned, and is not taking it at all well. I am currently fielding frequent phone calls and bouts of hysteria, along with making phone calls for her.  I keep reminding her that it was only stuff and stuff is replaceable, that thank God nobody was hurt.  Apparently that is small consolation and I have to confess that I have never lost everything in one fell swoop like that, so I have really no idea how to comfort someone in that position. 

I have discovered that my daughter is obsessively sentimental and has recovered the music box that I had since I was a child and had given to the peanut.  It was charred on the outside but it still worked, but my daughter is quite upset at the loss of her blankie that she has had since the day she was born that I made for her when I was pregnant.  I told her it was ugly anyway, but that only made her cry (oops).  I told her I'd make her another.  Maybe it won't be the same but maybe I can make it a little more attractive.

So there you go, this is what I am trying to handle at the moment.  I swear to God this is no exaggeration, she called me 20 times yesterday (I just looked on my phone log and got a bad case of incredulous giggles). 

Gratuitous Cuteness

6 comments:

Jess said...

Well, shit. What the hell. That totally sucks monkey balls...but you are right in all you said. It can all be replaced. That seriously fucking sucks though.

LilliGirl said...

SO glad you are there to help her lighten up and be a bit practical...and even more glad she is ok. (((HUGS)))

Odat said...

O.M.G. How horrible! I'm glad to hear e'one is ok tho. Leave it to you to throw in the giggles!
(If she needs more "stuff", I have plenty of "stuff").
Hugssssssssssss!

Deb said...

She has found a new apartment and will be moving into it on Friday. She won't have any furniture though. Thanks all, she's going to be fine, just a long road of replacing everything, and poor little Brooke has lost her collection of Buzz Lightyear babies. LOL

curmudgeon said...

That truly sucks, Just take the comfort of knowing you were there for her to talk to.
Our house burned us out when I was oh, 7 years old. It is scary and traumatic. But "stuff" can be replaced. Sometimes with even better "stuff".

Deb said...

You're right Curmy. She has moved into another apartment that she likes much better. She still misses some of her things, but she's slowly replacing what was lost. As for my granddaughter, its like Christmas morning for her, everyone is giving her new toys to replace what she lost. She's a happy camper.