Aaron and Jolene Ott house fire

Nightmare. This can’t be happening. What raced through my head when my moms name appeared on my phone right after midnight on Easter. Our house is on fire is all I heard. No. Not after everything they have been through. No, we finally had a somewhat sense of normalcy (5 years after the flood).

But it did happen. To two of the most caring and selfless people I know. The people who would give you the shirt off their backs literally walked out their burning house with only the clothes they had on.

Total loss. How can this happen? They lost everything in the flood (5 foot of water in this very home that I just stood here and watch burn to the ground). They are retired - their house wasn’t in a flood zone so they didn’t have flood insurance. Financially they were getting to where they were prior to the flood. Now this. We are scrambling...with my dads IPF (terminal illness) and health conditions some of his medicines come from New York. It’s like a bad dream and all I want to do is wake up. Mom and dad are adamant about not doing this, but so many people are asking what they could do to help. I am not too proud to ask for help, especially for these two that have done so much for others.