Quiltingboard Forums - Greetings from Alaska

Thank you so very much. Strange enough fires have never been something that I really feared for I have always been the type to make sure that everything was turned off to prevent a fire. Lord knows that practically everything I buy has an automatic shut off so that I would feel safe and not have to worry about any fires. My husband and kids always laughed at me because even though I buy things with auto shut-offs I still walk around checking to make sure everything had shut off like it was supposed to before I walk out of the house again to prevent a fire. When my house burnt down I was visiting my parents and one of my sons in MD and of all things my twins daughters, two of the family members who always enjoyed joking and laughing with and at me about my "OCD" of checking things to make sure they were off, were cooking themselves french-fries and forgot to turn off the burner on the stove and went outside to eat their fries and talk on their phones and next thing you know, Poof a fire started that they couldn't put out and because of where we live in Alaska we have no local fire departments and it took 45 minutes for the closest fire department to make it to the house. Needless to say the only thing remaining was the foundation. Lord only knows I was devastated beyond words and cried for many of months but I think that was the honest to goodness first time that I truly realized that as much as I loved my material possessions nothing in this world could ever mean more to me then the lives of those I love both family and my pets who to me are just as much family to me as the human ones are. Even though I have always loved all my kids it's horrible when you realize exactly how much when you lose one and know that when you lose a child, that is final, material things can be replaced. A fire is def a really bad way to learn such a lesson BUT every material possession has been replaced other then my photos but at least I still have my husband and family and instead of looking at pictures now we talk about the memories that were once on paper are now engraved in our minds and Omg it certainly does make for good conversations and def good family binding times. My daughters are not much for sewing but they love trying to help me make plans and my 25 yr. old son loves coming over with ideas of what I can make him and/or his son. Now I have a brand spanking new house, good old memories that I still cherish, my family, and thanks to the Red Cross and the AK Women's Prison a new fun and relaxing hobby, Quilting !!!!......Amazing how many good things can come from a tragedy if you can manage to make happiness your top priority. Thank you for your reply to my intro. it really gave me a warm feeling inside knowing that there are so many nice people out there. One more time, as with my intro my apologies for the length of this reply...