From the Ruins

Well it's been one long week since the home of my grandfather burned down. It hasn't been a picnic, even though we had one on the lawn yesterday but its nice to see my family coming together.

I have to say though one of the hardest parts for me has been the lack of empathy from other people. The constant worry of looters is horrible. The "looky-lou's" need to find a new hobby. The restoration crew that was hired to try and salvage things tossed out a lot of things they weren't supposed to and wasted time on my grandfathers dime. We even found a silver baby mug and photo albums of my cousins not even touched by fire tossed in the bin.

Yesterday was Saturday and the work crews don't come around on the weekend. We took the opportunity to rip the boards off ourselves and check things out. We took precautions and only went in spaces we thought were safe and we wore protective gear. The entire middle of the house is gone and so are all the structural beams so this proved to be a challenging task. Still, there were things we wanted badly that the work crews had ignored and so we took it on ourselves.

Among the things salvaged were three small bins of photos, a small bin of my grandparents handmade woodcrafts, and reports card of my uncles and aunts from primary school. There were a lot of things we couldn't reach or that were too dangerous to attempt accessing. Those things included all of my mothers personal items that were stored there. We will have to wait until the demolishing of the house to try and get them.

Being there every day and then regrouping afterwards at my aunts where my uncle and grandfather are temporarily staying is exhausting. Soon though the physical work will be done and then its all the paper trail. Itemizing every single tiny thing that has accumulated in that house over 30 yrs. The whole family will have to pitch in with remembering everything. We are checking recent photos to see what we can spot that may have been left off the lists.

I have been spending this week like I don't usually do. Some comfort foods for the family, a grocery shop for a family I know in need, and a birthday present for my best friends baby who turned one this week. Even though my funds are tight and limited there are some times when you can't focus that as number one. I have not compromised paying my bills or borrowed money or anything like that. It just means my extra debt payments were slowed for this month a little bit.

On a positive note I'm off to party with that little baby boy during his first birthday party!