The Day After...

 

 

I write this with the heaviest heart possible...but as I sat at my parents farm Saturday morning, I couldn't help get so angry at the random strangers driving by taking photos of my family in despair, I knew I had to give them and their gorgeous home the tribute and respect that it deserves. If you want to share photos please let these be the ones that you share....

 

 

First and foremost we want to thank the what seemed like hundreds of fire fighters that worked for hours and hours risking their own lives to save my parents home, it was really unbelievable. It was the most amazing thing I personally have ever witnessed in my life. At one point we watched a firefighter fall to his knees upset after 6 hours of fighting the fire....They wanted so bad just to save it, but what they might not realize is they saved so much more... they saved so many photos, they saved my family's farm, they saved our beautiful Red Barn Experience, they saved my family....They couldn't of been better, late that night after the bulldoze two of the firefighters ran in and saved my dads pride and joy, part of the staircase he was so proud of hand building...and the next morning, one of the firefighters helped my dad get our large now burned family photo off the mantle....We just cant even begin to thank them enough, along with the Disaster Relief from the Red Cross, who brought us and rescue workers food and water. My family has already discussed the many ways we are planning to give back to them, as much as we needed them that night, there are so many people out there, that need it so much more.

 

Friday was bad, but nothing could of prepared us for the day after.... pulling up to a pile of our memories, was HORRIBLE, just horrible....I don't want this next part to sound bad but I can't help but think it.... First off, I thank god every second that my family and pets were ok, every second....but as I looked at this pile, remembering everything in there, it was HARD really really hard....I know "things are just things"...but try telling yourself that as you lose your wedding rings, or all your photos of your entire life, or all your children's awards and trophy's... all of a sudden those 'things' become your life...that pile out there was our life, our entire life's memories. So although they are just things, they were our things and they were our memories.

 

Next is by far the most important... as my family arrived at the house early that morning, within 5 minutes we were surrounded by 20 friends, within an hour we were surrounded by 50 friends, and it just kept going...its was a beautiful site....we have the most AMAZING people in our life...people were bringing food, and drinks, and most importantly jokes...we needed those smiles and jokes more than we ever had before...a day that started out so horrible, ended with such warm hearts. As our house continued to smoke, all of these people were literally knee deep in water, mud, and ashes searching desperately for our things as if they were theirs, we will never be able to even begin to let them know what it means to us. My family had no idea what we needed that day, but I will tell you that was EXACTLY it.

 

We also want to thank all of the friends and family that can't be here, but have offered their lives to do anything for us! I never imagined my family needing this magnitude of support, but the truth is we do!

 

I thought I couldn't be prouder of my parents as I watched them spend the past 15 years blood sweat and tears, hand building this home to make it their own...but boy was I wrong...NOW I have never been more proud of them. The strength I have seen from them in past couple days is off the charts...its amazing!! How they have been holding it together, I will never know...

 

Now onto some pictures...This is what I want people to see, not the sight they see as their driving by, it's this that matters. The strength of my family thanks to the people around us, that's what I want people to see.... There was one piece of furniture that you could actually tell was still furniture, and it was this old antique couch that just happen to be sitting in front of the pile of rubble...and before we left for the day, I had this idea to get everyone there to sit on it, and crowd around for a picture....I wasn't sure what I was thinking about when I asked everyone to do it, but surprisingly everyone including my parents thought we should do it...This WILL be the new photo hanging on their new mantle and we WILL look back at the day just being so thankful...

 

 

 

We found so many photos, and some really awesome little memorabilia...

 

 

The staircase pieces they saved for my dad... he custom made them himself, I was so happy, although something so little, I know it made my dad feel good.

So many people brought food and drinks, and my husbands work even donated so much food!

 

This photo cracks me up...at one point I talked a family friend in to doing a photo shoot, I told her she looked like a Ralph Lauren model...it was this type of thing that got us through the day...

 

I wanted to end with some photos of my favorite best day ever at that house...my wedding day...I lost my wedding dress in the fire, so I will cherish these photos more than I ever imagined now.. I sat and looked through the photos the day after, and cried and cried at how beautiful my parents home was, so I picked some that showed that... Holly Russell from Lady and the Lens who took these photos showed up at the house yesterday, pregnant and ready to dig through rubble... the amount of support that everyone has showed, is un-imaginable...

 There's nothing I'll miss more this summer then this house being in the background of our weddings.


Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thankyou SO MUCH for your continued support. xox