7/22

A date I will never forget. One year ago today I woke up for the day, well I am not sure you can say sleeping an hour here and there while feeding two three week old babies is waking up for the day, but regardless you get the point. I woke up looking forward to a day of taking care of my new babies. I never would have guessed what was to happen that afternoon. Around 4:30 someone came over frantically knocking on our door. I was mid-diaper change. I finished up and ran outside with Gwen to my neighbor saying the house was on fire. I let the dogs out and grabbed Grady and headed out front. Luckily I had just fed the babies as it would be hard to explain to a newborn that mommy could not return inside to get them food. It was one of the luckiest days of my life, not because my house caught on fire, but because the fire started during the day and that someone actually looked up over my house and saw the smoke and called 911. The fire started in the nursery, no smoke detectors went off because the fire was at that point contained to the roof.

We had a long five months at a friends house, then a hotel, then a rental house, but we managed just fine. Having babies completely changed my perspective on an event like this. Pre-babies, I would have been upset about my personal belongings. Post babies, the only personal belongings that mattered were my babies oh and my husband of course.

Neal laughs at me, but whenever we are out driving near our house and a fire truck passes us, I actually make him drive back to our house to make sure it is not happening again. I can laugh now, but one day we were talking with a friend who reminded us that things tend to happen in twos for us, two transplants, two babies....

I am not going to lie, this day will haunt me forever. I made a special effort to go over to the neighbor who actually called 911 that day and thank her. I hate to think what would have happened if she had not run over to our house that day. I can still hear her frantic knocking on the door. And there I was inside thinking someone was coming to steal my babies. I guess that is what little sleep will do to you!