In the End, We Are All Just Fine

On September 25th, our busy Saturday afternoon apparently had a schedule of its own, and turned our day into a day our family will NEVER forget. While Parker and Tyson were busy with their Saturday rugby and soccer practices, John, Bracken, Preston, and I decided to grab a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant near our home.  Just as our food was being served, we received THE CALL......

It's the call you never in your lifetime think you will get, and from your teenage son no less....."MOM, I just got home from rugby, and when I tried to open the front door tons of thick black smoke hit me right in the face!!"  It took me a few seconds to decide if it was another of Parker's crazy phone calls, but this time I could hear panic in his voice, and in the background I could hear several chinese guards yelling in mass confusion.  As I hung up the phone from Parker, I immediately received the phone call from the management of our development asking me where I was, the news of the fire, and explaining that the firemen were already on their way.

It was one of those minutes of disbelief, shock, and pure fright!  It was apparent I was not coping with the situation as well as my level-headed husband, so he advised Bracken to stay with Preston and I at the restaurant, while he dashed home to assess the situation.  While I replayed the last two telephone calls in my mind, I knew Parker was ok since he was the one who was on the other line calling me, I knew Bracken and Preston were ok since they were right by my side, but Tyson was due home from soccer practice several minutes before the fire was discovered, so WHERE WAS HE NOW??  I can't even begin to explain the terror of what was going through my mind at that moment.  I immediately began calling all my neighbors, the carpool driver, his friends mothers, etc.  However......no answer since at this time ALL my neighbors were outside the house watching the fire in disbelief themselves.  Several minutes, which seemed like hours went by, until a sweet neighbor phoned me, and with greatest relief,  told me she had Tyson safe right by her side.  (For this one time only, I was happy he took a detour from coming straight home, and instead took off to a friend's house to play.)

When I finally composed myself enough to be somewhat level-headed, the three of us still at the restaurant, took a taxi to our house.  As we entered the compound, there were two fire engines lining the outside of the streets.  We knew we would never be able to enter into our circle in the taxi, so we walked......the closer we got to the house, the more tears welled up in my eyes, and the tighter Preston held on to me.  I will obviously never forget these images as I approached our house, but I was grateful my neighbor had been taking several pictures for us for documentation purposes. 

It was amazing how much support our family received immediately!!  Our neighbors, who are literally from all over the world, comforted each one of us, and made sure especially Preston was being watched over as the policeman, fireman, and our property management took reports from John and I.  Another neighbor grabbed both dogs, Rosco and Roxy, and took them to their home so they too would be out of everyone's way.  With all the chaos, we were so grateful when we realized they too were safe, remembering they were inside the home during the fire, and ran out when Parker opened the door.

When the firemen (who did an amazing job), were finally finished putting out the flames downstairs, and a large part of the smoke had been cleared, we were told the clothes dryer was the reason for the fire.  Apparently our clothes dryer had malfunctioned, started on fire, and quickly spread to the rest of the basement.  Luckily in China, homes are built with concrete block, which kept the flames only in the basement of the home.  The worst damage was found here, and the second floors upward were severely smoke damaged.  Since we were obviously unable to stay at our home after the fire, they advised us to take any valuables from our home, as well as any other items we could possibly use for the next couple days.  As I entered our home, I knew it was going to be difficult to see the extent of the damage, but I truly didn't realize how emotional I would be seeing it for the first time after the destruction.  Again, I was so grateful for a husband who reminded me that these were all just "things," and "things" can be easily replaced.

As I tried to deal with the losses, so many emotions were running through my head.  Everywhere I looked, I saw more and more things destroyed by the fire that held so many memories.  However, ironically I turned and saw this picture of our family taken several years ago.  Even though many things very close to this picture were severly damaged, our family picture still hung on the wall undamaged from the flames.  How grateful I was for this "tender mercy" reminding me what the most important thing in life is really about.  If nothing else, the experience our family had on this day will forever remind me of the greatest blessing in my life----MY FAMILY!

Gathering even one extra pair of clean clothes for each person was next to impossible beause of the severe smoke damage to everything.  We tried even taking a pair of shoes from our closets, two floors up from the basement, and realized there was no use as the stench was so strong.  We left the home with literally just the clothes on our backs.



That night, this guard was assigned to stay outside of our home 24 hours a day to  insure our homes security.   Noone would be able to enter into our home without our consent.  It was both impressive and amazing how efficiently and quickly the Chinese government implemented their people, and organized their workstaff.

That night, we were grateful for our hotel room provided by our management company.  Tyson found some clean hotel pajamas, and Preston was happy in his nice, comfy bed.

The next morning, a clean up crew arrived immediately removing the entire contents of our home.  The furniture as well as all our clothes, blankets, curtains, carpets, etc.,  were taken to professional dry cleaners who deal with fire damage, and each item in our home was sterilized and cleaned to remove any and all smoke damage.



After staying at the hotel for just two nights, the management company moved us to a serviced apartment "The Diamond Court," close to our home where we stayed for the next two weeks.  The apartment was convenient for us to quickly take our boys to the school bus each morning, and close enought to all their extra curricular activities.  During these two weeks, many of our belongings began to come back from the cleaners.  The salvaged and cleaned items were placed in a vacant home in our neighborhood where they could be stored until our home is finished being rennovated (possibly 3 months time).





Since the fire, we have spent several hours discussing our situation with governmental authorities, accompanied by our management company.  At our most recent meeting, a representative from the dryer company met with us to apologize for this most unusual situation, and  reported to us (in perfect English), that their company currently supplies dryers to the largest hotel chains and to companies  literally all over the world, for which they have never had this problem.  They all have been incredibly apologetic, and have been so kind to us.  They informed us we are the first foreign family to have this type of situation happen in China, and that we are now "famous" for it.  They also have told us that Chinese people believe that fires in homes bring good luck since you can immdiately begin to "rebuild" your life.  We have all found a bit of humor in both of these Chinese ideas/ thoughts, that have helped bring a few smiles when we definitely need one!  We continue to thank the companies that have helped our family, and continue to be impressed with how respectful they have been to us as foreigners.



Our latest move this past weekend, was to this home just a few houses down from our own where we will live until the rennovation of our home is complete.  Looking back over the past two plus weeks since this tragedy occurred, we have been displaced several times, and have lost many of our day to day conveniences.  However, we are grateful at the end of each day we can honestly say....."We are all just fine".......and that is the greatest place to be!