A lot of things can change in six years. And some stay the same. You grow up a lot between 15 and 21.
On Thursday, December 11, 2008, John McCain was on David Letterman, and Mom was watching it while feeding Amy. There was this smoky smell; and the woodstove wasn't being used just then. She frantically called Dad, and I couldn't sleep, so I came to see what was happening. The inside of the fridge was on fire. Nobody who saw or heard about it had ever heard of that happening before, but the fridge was about seventeen years old, so maybe that's why. Or maybe there was a power surge in the electric lines. Or both. Courtney and I took Amy to the van, where we sat worriedly observing with the radio on K95, two of the songs they played were Tim McGraw's "Back When" and Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink", back-to-back. Probably Taylor Swift's "Love Story", too, it was all over the radio at that time. I'm not as sure on that. Caleb and Trevor were still asleep. Anyway, the fire department came and wrestled the fridge out into the driveway, they poked around and proclaimed the area safe, shaking their heads at a refrigerator, of all things...after a lot of trying to calm our nerves once everything settled down, Dad began looking at insurance stuff and pricing new refrigerators, and the four of us played Uno in Courtney's room for about an hour before going to sleep around 4 a.m. We played a lot of Uno all that year, kept a running tally from New Year's Eve to the end of December.
I woke up about 7 and got on the computer for a while, enjoying the quiet of a sleeping household. (Webkinz was also a very big deal then.) Everyone else gradually got up, Mom told Caleb and Trevor what happened, they were disappointed they missed out. She flipped on the light switch in the laundry room while getting the box of oatmeal out of the pantry and started cooking it. About fifteen minutes later Caleb walked into the family room. "Mom, why is there smoke in the family room?" "Oh, no, there's not. That was last night. It's all gone now." But she went to check anyway. "THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE! GET OUT NOW!"
I hadn't put my shoes on yet; and only had my phone in my pocket. Gravel is kind of tough on bare feet unused to traveling over the pebbly surface. But that really didn't matter. Somehow everybody else got out, too. Someone opened the backyard gate to let the dogs out, and Liesel the cat was found later safely hiding under my bed(on the other end of the house).
We spent most of the morning sitting in the van, wondering when the firefighters were going to come and what was going to happen next. Black, acrid thick smoke pouring out of the roof... I'd called Maddie almost immediately after racing out of the house for some reason I'm still not sure of, I think her mom activated the GBC prayer chain. Mrs. Pickard had some Red Cross contacts that came by, NewsChannel 8 ran a story that night and other people heard from that. We drove into Okmulgee and ate without tasting some food from Burger King, and then checked into a room for a couple days at the Best Western with money from the Red Cross people while trying to figure out what to do next. The manager heard about what happened and let us stay in his apartment for just what we had already paid, thus more room and kind of a hideaway to regroup. It was one of the first of many wonderful, amazing things that we'll never forget or understand, ways that God took care of us throughout the whole experience.
Our clothes reeked of smoke after cautiously checking what was still usable inside the house, so we bought some sweaters and sweatpants at Wal-Mart and that's what we ended up wearing to church on Sunday. Tracy Lawrence's song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" running without ceasing for the next several days. The Hollises brought over a gift basket full of useful everyday stuff with a note that said "If you need anything, call us." That's another thing that especially stands out. The phone was ringing pretty often, folks were worried about us.
I told this story earlier in my recap of SGYC circa 2009, so I hope y'all don't mind me re-telling it now. And fictionalized the event somewhat in this short story.
Well, we moved into Grandpa's old trailer north of Tahlequah, and that was home for the next ten months. (Because "home" is where your cat is.) Daily commuting along the hour-and-fifteen-minute stretch of 62 and 16 was the rule, and at one point Caleb asked Trevor completely seriously where he'd wake up if he took a nap in the van. Sorting through what to keep or throw out in the unheated husk of house in January, memorizing the layout of every Lowe's store in the area, watching Amy in the camper that Dad lived in during the week, exploring Tahlequah with Harry and Louise. With Damon, Trish and others, we had a very active American Idol email discussion group going, predicting that week's results and delivering our opinions on last night's shows. (Basic summary of that season, according to us: Adam Lambert was highly controversial, Anoop Desai was funny, and Megan Joy Corkrey was the worst dancer the world had ever seen.)
I covered Beggs tennis that spring for the ONW based solely off of phone calls, and then in June started writing for the Free Lance once Valerie became editor, covering Henryetta sports and the occasional bit for Dewar.
Returning to SGYC was a wonderful experience. It was so great to be back and see everybody I'd met my first year; the music was amazing(I learned "In Christ Alone" then), Isaiah 43:1-3 was that much-needed-to-hear verse(s) that just....made things better. Got to know Daniel, Madelyn, Ash and Matt better, and I met Jed, Jon, Jessica and Amanda. It was really special. It is really special.
Sunny kept Dad company at the worksite and an eye on the folks coming in and out working on stuff, Sport did, too. Liesel came to Tquah with us, and Georgie the red heeler and Little Ann and Old Dan(ielle) the Labs were the strays that adopted us.
There were so many people from GBC who helped out with everything, from taking down old sheetrock to staining new stairs to wiring the house to keeping me updated on what was happening in church news. From the homeschool group, too - everything in that previous sentence applies to them, too. So, thanks, you guys. Appreciate it so much.
Joined the rest of the world on Facebook in June. It's a wonderful tool. And a large time-waster. But, you know, nothing's perfect.
We finished the rebuilding in early October and moved back, Sport never did understand that the floorplan had changed.
Since then, I went on Youth Tour and survived the SAT, senior year of high school with its endless applications and forms, and freshman year of college. Met the folks at the BCM who brightened up sophomore year. I led worship for the youth group and spent good times with friends during murder mysteries and service projects. I learned to play guitar, and Courtney and I both learned mandolin. At some point we all got sucked into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's hard to know exactly when that happened. There's been a lot of changes.
One of the things I find most strange about post-fire life is that we have an entirely different cast of animals around the place than at that time. New cats, new dogs, new goats, new chickens, new assorted scary predators lurking in the woods. That generation passed with Sunny's death.
There's still the caring of being part of GBC, though. And the Lankfords.
So, yeah, it's not the happiest anniversary to remember, but for us it's one of the most monumental. You really lose track of time when writing up a post like this, more so than usual.
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