Monday, December 15th, we woke up just before 4 a.m. to his dad pounding on our bedroom door. There was a fire. I grabbed Rev, keys, purse, and got out. Gary tried to put the fire out. We called 911. They were on their way, and he kept trying. He made it out but was in too long still, had some smoke inhalation; EMS transported him to a local hospital. I stayed behind with his dad and Rev. We sat there, watched his dad's side of the house burn, smoke, firemen doing their jobs. They finally got it out.

Gary was discharged hours later and is doing good. His dad lost everything on his end of the house. Everything else is covered in smoke. The house is unlivable. We've been trying to get out what can be cleaned since then; everything that we can clear has to be cleaned thoroughly. We need to get a professional service for everything we don't know how to tackle, and all we know is our clothing. But all of us lost our home. His dad lost 35 years of his life, Gary lost his childhood, where we spend time with the kids. His dad lost his whole bedroom and bathroom.

As of now, I'm unsure of exactly what all we can't save besides a few things. We've been living there to pay off things and save to buy our own home. Currently, we're in a hotel, his dad is with his lifelong friend. He will be able to put a new house there once insurance handles things, but that can still be 6 months to a year for one to be put out and set up.

As for us, we need help with money to get into a place quickly. We will have to get a new mattress, kitchen items, then of course food to put in the house for us and when the kids are with us. My husband's job has been gracious and put us into a hotel, but we can't stay forever. Having so much laundry to do, things we've needed to buy immediately, it's costing us far more than we thought we could handle. As we've gone through the house we have found so much that can't be saved between our belongings and the kids and of course his dad.

His dad, as of now, is okay. Red Cross came out and helped a little, and we told him to take it to buy clothes. Thankfully, he lives a simple life, so most lost for him was his bedroom and bathroom things. He isn't worried about a bed right now as he has a bed where he's staying. Once that time comes, he has a home again; we're hoping we're in a position to help him then or possibly we earn enough for us to have left over to put towards his needs and start gathering items to put into storage for him so take that burden off of him. Items we thought might be ok, were not.

We have a long road ahead of us with cleaning what we can, finding a place to live, helping his dad with the insurance process and then figuring out a new home. We have a huge support system around us, I know we're going to be okay. We are putting our trust into God and everyone around us. We'll get through this.

If everyone can please share this, we'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you, everyone, for your support, prayers, help, everything. We truly appreciate it all and are thankful we're all safe and the kids weren't there when it happened. End of the day, we're still blessed.

Again, thank you, everyone.