Good Karma for The Castracion's Clan

THE CASTRACION CLAN VENMO

Our VENMO link is above ⬆️⬆️⬆️

Hello we are the Castracion's! Family of seven. Five adults, two children under 10. One of whom just celebrated her third birthday just two days prior, and the other who will be celebrating his seventh in a few weeks. This is how our day started on Wednesday, September 24th.

Seven am, my alarm had just gone off. The one that goes off every morning to get my son ready for school at James Carter Elementary. I reluctantly snoozed the alarm and texted my husband asking if he was going to bring him to the bus today. "Yes, I have to leave early anyway" was the response. Thank God, more time to sleep before my toddler wakes up, I thought, so I snooze the alarm and I turned over to hopefully fall asleep for those few precious minutes.

As I was drifting off but still totally aware. I heard my mother-in-law. Same as every other morning. I would hear her open her bedroom door and Bentley, our family dog would race out of the room leaving the sounds of nails hitting the tile. I remember even now as they sounded that morning. It will later be realized that was not the sound I was used to hearing. That was the sound of crackling.

The smell of burning plastic eventually reaches me.

Now we're friends so I'm not going to lie, my household is prone to the occasional burnt utensil, or bottom of toaster mystery item that engulfs the kitchen in such a smell I'm sure many of you are familiar with. So this wasn't a wake up call, more like a snooze alarm.

Snooze

That night my son and I happened to be sleeping in the heart of the home, situated by the kitchen, sharing a wall with the garage, and off the den. So this smell didn't immediately concern me. They're people awake, I thought, I just heard Mom and then smelled a smell, checks out I figured. As I got cozy again pulling up the comforter to that spot right under your nose. You know the one that makes you feel safe and sleepy. Not knowing what a gift that snooze would be. The last snooze I would take safe in my family home..

Waking up on the other side of the house is my husband. He later told me he had heard the same thing I heard earlier. Mom opening her door, the sound of the same dog nails hitting the same tile. He made his way through the hall and into the main living area. He hadn't even stopped at the bathroom before he entered kitchen and noticed, no one. No one was around. What did he hear then? He feels that heart in your stomach feeling people describe. The feeling when you just know that your day isn't going to be the same as every other. He immediately opens the garage door where a cloud of black smoke enters the doorway and through the kitchen.

There would be no hitting the snooze a second time

"Fire, there's a fire in the garage." Those were the first words to echo the halls that day.

We jumped into action. Immediately grabbed the kids, got to bedrooms on the other side of the large four-bedroom home. My mother-in-law Barbara was running around the house; I think she had to see it with her own eyes what had happened. Daniel, my father-in-law, who suffered a work-related back injury years ago forcing him into early retirement, walked slowly out of the house. Joshua, thier youngest adult son, was in the room just on the other side of the wall. He jumped out of bed.

Right away he began assisting his parents out of the house and away from the garage.

At this point, me and the kids are outside at the end of our very long driveway on Sagewood Dr when I see the others emerge.

Josh, my brother-in-law, was the first I could see, flustered, trying to get his parents to leave the house. Barbara and Daniel were collecting items and would quickly retreat outside only to end up back in the house. It turns out the dog never came out of the room. Bentley, a chocolate toy poodle that has a tendency to do the wrong thing at the wrong time, and was hiding under the bed all the way at the back corner and Barbara was trying to get to him. I watched as Josh went back in for the last time and safely brought his parents out of the home.

By this time, a large group of neighbors had formed. All concerned, all calling for help. Gotta love that community spirit. I began to assist my father-in-law away from the garage where meer minutes before I fled with my son in my hand and my baby in my arms while; what I found out later was a large supply of air spray cans; exploded above our heads. He's not moving fast enough, I thought. I ran as close to him as I could without putting my children in danger and shouted, "Get away from the garage! Things are going to explode!"

Finally, we were all out at the end of the driveway. I can see the firetrucks approach and they took off running.

While we worried over the fate of our missing dog and cat, and while I reassured my children the birthday toys we just bought were going to ok,

we watched.

We watched as over ten years of life, protection, love, celebrations, and multiple lifetimes of belongings that were passed down and full of memories, melted into a dark, thick, unrecognizable paste.

For the past three years, myself, Catherine, my husband Brandon, and our two children, Ophelia and Sebastian, have been looking for a home. We moved from Orange County to Massachusetts for just five days before my mother, who had just offered refuge from the cost of living increase that became too much for us to sustain, kicked us out and turned us away.

We were homeless just like that. Just the same as so many in our position became homeless these past few years. But Barbara and Daniel offered us a home, and that bed has kept us safe as we began rebuilding our lives.

That home, the Castracion's home, always had a bed for a family member in trouble, but taking on four people, I was grateful.

I was grateful every night that even when my own blood said no, my in-laws said yes. Now they're homeless.

Now we're homeless....

The fire persons contained the fire to the garage. The place where decades worth of family belongings melted into that slime. ‍

The rest of the house is unlivable. Power and water shut off and an eager landlord ready to change the locks before we can even retrieve what wasn't lost to the smoke and fire.

I write this not for myself, even if I am a good standing member of The Castracion's Clan. I write for those who helped me when no one else would. For those who have helped everyone who has ever dawned there door with no where else to go. For those who saved my own family from homelessness.

Let you be thier good Karma.

The Castracion's. Daniel, Barbara, Josh, Brandon, Sebastian, Ophelia, and me, Catherine. We need your help. We have nowhere to go, we have no emergency money, WE NEED HELP!

I know it's hard times and I know you don't know us. But if you did, we would give you our hearts.

We are asking for donations for the following expenses: Storage unit, Movers, food, temporary living, deposits and first month for future properties, U-Haul, Gasoline for vehicles.

Also, the and were found safe after the fire was contained. Woof woof! Meow Meow!

P.S. Any lawyer who knows tenants' rights, please send me a phone number. We could use some help.

THANK YOU & GOD BLESS!

-One grateful Castracion.

For go fund me only I am Catherine a displaced person as a result of a house fire. This is not a wildfire.