Friday morning at 4:00 a.m., our lives changed completely.

Our home caught fire after a lightning strike during the storms. In a matter of hours, we lost our house, all three of our cars, and essentially everything we owned.

But somehow, through all of that, we were given the biggest blessing — all three of us made it out alive.

Our dog, Kali, is the reason we knew something was wrong. She alerted us and led me toward where the fire had started. At the same time, one of our neighbors happened to be up early having coffee, saw the lightning strike and what was happening, and alerted her son, who is a firefighter. He called 911, and everything moved incredibly fast from there.

I honestly don’t know what would have happened if those pieces hadn’t all fallen into place.

We lost our home, our cars, our clothes, our belongings, our memories, and pretty much everything that made our house ours. But we didn’t lose each other. We walked away without a scratch — maybe just a bruised ego and a whole lot of disbelief.

Our friends, family, and neighbors have already shown us more love than we could ever put into words. So many people have sent money through Cash App, Venmo, and other ways to help us get through these first few days, and we are beyond grateful.

A few friends have asked us to make a GoFundMe so there is one place they can share and so people who have reached out from different platforms can find it easily. So, as hard as it is to ask for help, we’re doing it.

Right now, we’re trying to figure out what comes next and rebuild our lives from the ground up. Anything donated, shared, or even just a message of support means more to us than you know.

And if there is one thing this has taught us already — stuff can be replaced. We can’t.

We are here. We are alive. Kali is here. And for that, we will forever be grateful. ❤️