Friendship and Fire

I had a post all written and ready to post Friday morning.  I don't know why but something told me to hold off on posting it.  I've been doing a much better job of following my instincts , so I waited.  I didn't know it then but in less than 24 hours, I would be hearing something that would affect me deeply. 

A friend's house caught fire on Thursday.  Everything happened very fast.  One minute someone was cooking and the next thing you know the  kitchen was on fire.  The house  filled with smoke.   It took approximately 15 minutes for everything to be consumed by fire.  What the fire didn't destroy was destroyed by either smoke or water.  Everyone inside the home made it out safely.  That is the most important thing.  EVERYONE made it out the house safely.

 A similar situation happened at my neighbors house in 2009.  She was outside talking to a friend and went in the house to cook dinner.  A kitchen fire.  Two people inside the house made it out safely.  Two people did not.  The neighbors did everything they could to get them out but the smoke was too thick and the fire was too hot.

Saturday morning I was supposed to go to a meeting for Fire Department Volunteers but I decided to go to this other meeting instead.  That's where I learned about the fire.  I made a mental note to call my friend after the meeting to see what she needed me to do.  I didn't make that call.  My friend showed up to the meeting because she had invited a friend to speak to the group and she wanted to be supportive.  Less than 48 hours after  the fire, she's thinking about others. 

When she walked into the meeting, people immediately gathered around her to hug her and see for themselves that she was all right.  I was not one of those people.  I was entirely too emotional to talk to her right then.  My eyes had filled with tears.  I didn't want to start crying and upset her so I decided to wait until the end of the meeting for my hug.

The guest speaker was excellent.  She said some really powerful and moving things that really got me to thinking.  By the time she finished, I had made up my mind that I was going to give my friend my dining room table and chairs to go along with the beds the speaker was donating to her.  I wasn't the only one who decided to give something more.  The outpouring of love and support for her was great.  I could feel it in the air.

There's a saying that you find out who your real friends are when bad things happen.  My friend is going to be all right.  Not because her friends and family are giving her material things to replace what was lost in the fire but because she and her family made it safely out the house AND she is blessed with friends and family that truly care about her. 

There's also a saying that you get what you deserve.  My friend is getting exactly what she deserves.  She has a reputation for thinking about others, being supportive to her friends, and helping those in need.  I posted on my blog about a week before this fire happened that I had much love for this woman and that I hope I could be as good a friend to her as she's been to me.  This is my time to step up and show that I meant what I said.  That's what real friendship is about.  

Please check your smoke detector batteries.  There should be a smoke detector on each floor of your home.  Many states have programs that give families free smoke detectors and/or batteries.  It only takes a few minutes and it could be the difference between life and death.  Be safe.

Thanks for reading.

April