The Day That Changed My World (pt. 1)

August 10, 2018 is the date that will now be etched into my memory like my birthday, my wedding day, and the birthdates of my children. This is the date that changed my world forever. This is the date that my life became something I never thought it would be. This is the date that my husband left the house to fight a fire and never returned.

The day was like any other. I was working at school in my classroom between workshops, getting ready for the new year which would begin the following week. I had asked Maddy if he wanted to go to lunch since it would probably be the last time for awhile. We spent many lunches together during the summer break. It just so happened that my daughter Alison was working at my school that day. She had just changed positions from classroom teacher to librarian for two schools and was scheduled to be at her other school that day. She had more work to do at my school so she came there. She, of course, wanted to go to lunch with us because it would mean a free meal for her. We met up with Maddy and had a great time. It was interesting that we had discussed wills that day. The representative for my 403b said he could do a simple one for us at no charge. I was going to schedule to talk to him within the first couple weeks of school. After we ate we all walked back out to our vehicles. He was in his bucket truck that he drove in his job as an electric lineman for AEP/PSO. As always, before we left I kissed him goodbye and told him I loved him.

Usually we can leave school at 3:15, but this was Friday and "Meet the Teacher" day was Monday so I was trying to get as much done as I could. I finally left at about 5:00, bringing home work for me to do over the weekend. I knew I'd have to go back sometime, but I wanted to get home since we always went out to eat on Friday night. Caitlin, my younger daughter, happened to get off at 3:30 that day, same as Maddy. She usually went to work in the afternoon and got off after 11 so we didn't see her much. She had visited with her dad when she came home. I mention this, and Alison eating with us, because this was a rare occurrence. Since Alison was married and out of the house we didn't see her often, and Caitlin's work schedule kept her away as well. This was one of many things which I could look back and see God's hand in.

Maddy's pager went off around 5:30 that evening. It said there was a trailer fire. The address they gave didn't line up with a house trailer, so they thought it was something on the side of the road.He grabbed my spare keys and headed out to the garage. I told him to be careful, like always. Less than 20 minutes later I got a call. I didn't know who it was and couldn't understand what they were saying. I realized it was my father-in-law and he was telling me that Maddy was hurt when the structure fell and it didn't look good. My first thought was we may be spending some time in Oklahoma City at the hospital. Caitlin decided to go with me so we swapped her car for mine at the fire department and went the 4 miles to the fire scene. I finally got through to Alison to let her know. She came as quickly as she could because her husband was at the fire too. It wasn't long before I realized it was more serious than I first suspected. The trailer that was on fire was an insulation trailer that was spraying in a home under construction. It caught the home on fire. The roof was shingled, but no interior walls were sheet rocked. It was still a shell. These conditions made the fire spread faster.

I wondered why the ambulance wasn't moving. They sent the Friendship firemen out and when his dad saw me he shouted, "He's dead". My first response was "No, we aren't done yet!". I stayed by the side of the road just watching, knowing he was under the blue tarp I could see in the distance. Apparently, he, Mitchell (my son-in-law), and another firefighter were on the porch, spraying water through the front door. The other guy didn't have an air pack so he said he was getting off as the smoke was getting too much for him. The others started to leave too. Mitchell and Maddy heard two pops as they were getting off the porch. Mitchell heard a crash, turned around to tell Maddy that was a close call, but no one was there. The porch had fallen, killing him instantly. We were grateful that we didn't have two tragedies in the family that day.

I waited until they would let me up there. I wanted to talk to someone who could tell me what happened. They had to wait for the state fire marshal before they could remove him. I finally went home when it was getting dark and they said it would be a little while still.

Friends and family started coming over, bringing food, and sharing hugs and tears. My wonderful church family was there for me as well. The next few days were a blur.

I'll continue this story in the next post.

One thing I understood more fully after this: Life is a game of inches and seconds. I only needed 2 feet for Maddy to be safely off that porch. If he would have started off 5 seconds earlier my life would still be its normal, boring existence. Every moment is important. Spend it wisely.