Tinder for the Fire

On Monday I found myself handcuffed to a chair at the auto dealership slightly longer than I had anticipated. During that time, I took advantage of the "Notes" section of my iPhone and dashed down some thoughts. Making them understandable in a blog format is a different matter entirely.

At about 3:00 Sunday morning this past weekend, my best friend's house caught on fire. The exact cause of the fire is unknown at this time, however we do know that it was some sort of explosion in her neighbors garage, which butted up directly to my friend's home. In moments flames had jumped to her home and quickly took out her attic, roof and between the fire, smoke and water damage, her home is destroyed. Luckily, she and her family (husband, 3 daughters and dog) all escaped physically unharmed. The neighbors also are safe, but their home will be demolished.

Nobody thinks about these things. None of us goes to bed at night with the expectation that we will shortly be standing outside watching life as we know it go up in flames. Sure, we might occasionally think "what if" ... especially after a tragic event such as this affects someone close by. After, sifting through the rubble of all the "things" which were once so important, you realize how little anything else matters. Family, health and happiness matter ... everything else can be replaced.

Ann is amazing and she is taking this all far better than I can imagine I would in a similar circumstance. Watching her community of family and friends rise up, surround her and clamour to help is a testament to the person she is. Every one of us knows that she would be the first person to help if it happened to one of us, and we want to be that person for her. We want to ease her burden any way we can.

I sit here looking around my home thinking "what would I save?" If my family, which includes every last member of our zoo, was safe, it would be pictures, scrapbooks first, baby mementos, videos of people I love. If there was time, I would grab the important documents such as insurance, 401k, will's, etc. But lets face it ... everything else? It doesn't really matter all that much. Makes you wonder why we put so much effort towards having all this "stuff" if it isn't going to matter in a life or death situation.

So here's my own personal lesson from this tragedy affecting the lives of people very important to me: Spend 100% of your energy on the things that secure and promote your family, your health and ultimately, your happiness. Everything else is just tinder for the fire.