Blue House Fire

These four came to dinner and the first thing the sisters told  us was that Marie and SK's house caught on fire earlier in the morning. The news broke my heart. After dinner Tyson, Lydia, the Sisters and I headed over to see the family. We brought them a box of Flip Flops and some food. The Sisters had taken them towels, blankets and pillows earlier. 

It was dark when we arrived but we peeked in the house to see the damage. Everything was ruined. 

 The dead end road was full of people. They were all sitting and waiting. Not knowing where to go or what to do. I gave all the kids lots of hugs. Lydia cheered their spirits. She had a gift of making everyone smile. I love her for that.

I didn't know what to say or do for the Mom, Marie. She was just beside herself. I just sat with her on the road and was present. She told me the story of how it all happened and after that we just sat in silence.

Our Bishop came and talked to them. They later found out that the mayor of our village said they could sleep at the outdoor community center. We helped the Bishop carpool them all over there. About 18 of them lived in this duplex. 

 Lisa (the Relief Society President) asked me to go and visit them the following morning. Some of them seemed excited to get to stay there. Others told us that is was miserable. The kids found a long rope and had fun playing jump rope games. They were really making the best of such a horrible situation.

 The Red Cross had lots of food for them to eat and they had a place to take showers. The part that got me is they had to sleep on the hard ground all night in the heat.....with the bugs. I had a hard time falling asleep that night in my own bed. I wished I could have taken them all home with me.

Lisa rescued their dog. They weren't able to take care of it. She took it to the vet, cleaned it, fed it and found it a home.

They made local news. They were excited to show me. 

 I brought three girls back to my house for the day while their Mom and Dad went searching for a new home to live in. We fed them, let them take baths, found them some clean clothes and then after playing for a bit they crashed for hours.

When they woke up we did some art therapy. Not intentionally, but when I got out the art stuff this is what they created. They were able to talk about what had happened and I tried to help them process it. They were pretty shaken up about what had happened. None of the parents were home when the fire started. The kids were alone. Smilie their 12 year old brother woke lots of them up so they could get out and then he ran back in to grab Peekaboo who was too scared to move. What a hero!

When the word homeless came up I tried to teach them that 'home' is wherever your family is. Their parents called and wanted the girls to return to the community center for the night. It was good for them all to be together. 

The following day Lisa had all the girls to her home and by late afternoon she sent them down to my house. I popped lots of popcorn and put on Rapunzel. Most of the Simion girls ended up falling asleep. 

I love these precious girls. They are now in a temporary government home in the middle of the island so I don't see them except for at church. But I pray they find a home in our area that is good for their needs.  People far and wide have donated money to assist them as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You know who you are. Our church congregation and others in the community have donated  things for them to have when they have a new place to call home. I am storing it in our spare bedroom and I can't wait to drop it all off.