So Grateful

I had been working on on a blog post about seeing the glass half full instead of half empty. But after what has happened in the last 36 hours I would have to say that my cup runneth over.

Yesterday, my mom and Aunt Esther were given 20 minutes notice to evacuate their home. Why? They were under threat of the wild fires that were getting dangerously close to the house.They were able to get their medications, a few clothing items and their cars out of Remington Forest, their subdivision in Magnolia, Texas. Mom called me last night as they were leaving the house.  Lucky for all of us, Aunt Esther's son, my cousin Robbie and his wife Maggie opened their arms and their home to both of them.

I stayed in contact with Mom and Aunt Esther over the course of the day. I tried to encourage Mom to stay positive and not to assume the worst. Aunt Esther kept saying, "It's only a house. They are only things." Aunt Esther is one tough cookie! I was watching fire maps and news feed on the internet all day. It didn't look good.

At about 6 pm their time, they received confirmation from one of their neighbors that the house was gone - burned down to the ground. It's just awful - they have lost all their belongings. Right now, Mom  seems shell shocked. At the moment she seems most concerned about the loss of all her photos. I told her not to worry - I could replace all of those. What concerns me is how she will cope as the waves of realization hit her on all she has lost.

This could have been a very tragic story. What if they hadn't gotten out in time? There is hard work ahead and decisions that will have to be made, but the bottom line is that this is a story with a happy ending. They are safe and well.  Within seconds of notifying my siblings and cousins about what had happened, I received texts and calls and requests of "What can we do to help?" Thank you to everyone that have sent their prayers, and expressed their love and concern. These ladies are going to be fine and I am just grateful.