Thank You @ MindSay

Well, something pretty amazing happened today.

 

A couple of weeks ago, this couple came in to the library and they were in a bit of a panic. They were here from Texas. The husband was a Vietnam vet who was ill. I didn't get the specifics, but he was here to recieve treatment at the local VA hospital. His wife accompanied him and she needed a place to stay.

 

They didn't want a shelter, they were looking for an apartment, one that was used for emergency housing. I had to do a ton of research to find what they were looking for, and within their limited budget. They had already exhausted the available housing from the hospital and used the assistance of a local church, so they were on their own. With no idea where to turn (they'd never been to MN before), they stopped into my library and asked for help.

 

I managed to find them affordable housing near the VA hospital, that is used for situations like this, through a local social services organization. I got them directions and an appointment and sent them on their way.

 

Today, they stopped in to the library. They were looking for me specifically. They wanted to let me know that the housing I found them worked out perfectly. His treatments are going well and suddenly everthing is going well for them both. They are a very sweet couple who's names I didn't even know until today. When we spoke, they thanked me for my assistance and my kindness toward them and told me they would pray for me.

 

Then, they gave me a handwritten thank you card with their names on it, that said "Thank you for strengthening the (name) family.  We appreciate the love and support you gave us."

 

It was so utterly unexpected and sincere. I was really touched. I do what I do and often times I help people, but it is my job. Yet, it meant so much to these two, that they made a point of stopping back to let me know how I helped them. And brought me a card, which is becoming an increasingly rare thing to do.

 

It is nice to get that affirmation that what I do really does make a difference.

My dearest MindSayers,

I cannot begin to express my deepest things for the outpouring of love, hope and sheer amazingness from all of you. I want to thank you on behalf of myself and my family. I read the comments to my Mom and Dad, and they both teared up. They both know how much a part of MindSay I am, and they were touched. Thank you again.

Here is an update as to what has been going on. We met with an insurance adjuster today, and well, he was able to get into the house and said that the damage was bad. There are broken windows everywhere, there is glass everywhere. I have 5 sliding doors in my house, and 3 of the 5 were shattered and blown into my house. There are glasses and mugs shattered all over my kitchen floor, there are pictures frames of my photography shattered, there are art/picture frames on the wall shattered. Our clothes are ruined. They have dust and the threat of asbestos on them. Our life has been turned upside down. We have no home to go home to.

When we heard the first explosion (since there were several), it was one of the most scariest and terrifying moments of my life. From the sound of the glass shattering because of the giant amounts pressure from the propane, I thought that it was from out house getting struck by thunder or that someone was trying to break into our house. Within seconds, I ran upstairs (since my room is in the basement) to find my parents and Krystyna (my 8 year old sister). My Dad was screaming at the top of his lungs "WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE. THE PLACE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE." I was terrified. I tried to take in the sights of see a glass sliding door INSIDE of my house, my drinking glasses and mugs and walls and ceiling caving in. My Mom and Dad were screaming at me to get dressed and get out as soon as possible. That was just what I did. I ran from the main floor, to the basement, and when I was in my room, I have to literally explain to myself internally what to do. I said " I need pants. What pants do I wear? I can't find my jeans, I just have to wear my pj pants. I need socks. Where are socks? I need a bra. I am not wearing one" And all of these thoughts were running throughout my mind is milliseconds. All I was able to grab was my cell phone. I do not even have my engagement ring. It's still in my house. I have no ID, no debit card, no driver's liscense, no passport, no birth certificate NOTHING. I had the clothes on my back, and my cell phone. When I ran back up the stairs, I had to be careful as to where I was stepping because there was glass everywhere and I was barefoot. I ran out into my garage, as my front door was blown in and was unable to get out of. I saw draywall and insulation in millions of pieces in my garage, and ran out from the side of my garage into the car that was already pulled out into the road out of the driveway. My Mom was screaming at me "GET OUT AND INTO THE CAR". Once I got out of the garage, I did not even have enough time to put on my socks or shoes, and I was barefoot until I got to Genio's house. I checked the time that I called Genio's house, and it was 3:54am on early Sunday morning. I told her "Gina (that's his mom's name) there has been an explosion, and our house is destroyed, we are coming to your house." I hung up the phone, and my Dad was driving so fast. While driving, we saw our neighbours RUNNING for their lives. Both were in their pj's, which looked like next to nothing, one had shoes on and one did not. We told them to get into the car, and they did. They had their dog in their hands. The dog was terrified. It was not until we were too far away that we remembered about our cat. It was too late to turn around, and when it clicked in that we did not get her... all of us began to cry. We did not want to leave her behind, but we had to. The propane fire was so hot. The first initial blast blew out the windows and doors and such, the second blast happened when we were rushing to get out of the house and the third one happened when we were in the car trying to get away. There were several blasts, however, we were outside during the third one, all I do remember seeing was orange, scorching heat and tons and tons of fire everywhere. The entire sky was lit with orange. Well, if you checked out the videos, then you would have seen the blasts and bursts and explosions. It was and probably will be one of the most single and tragic things that has ever happened to me and my family. We were out of the house in about 6 minutes and we were lucky we got out when we did. We were one of the first peoples to get out. When we got to Genio's house, we all began to cry. It was starting to, semi- settle in what had happened. I think we were all still in panic mode and nothing really sunk in. The one thing we were most worried about was Kictha, our cat. We wanted to so go back and get her, but it was totally unsafe and could have led to injuries and such. So, we stayed up pretty much all day, watching the news. We were glued to the tv for pretty much all of the day. There were so many things running through our minds. Will our house be safe? Has our house burned down? We will even have a house to go home to? What happens to all of our stuff? When can we go back? What will happen to us?

(edited) I FOR GOT TO SAY--that we got our cat out. She is safe.

So, skip forward to right now. It's been a busy Monday, as predicted. We went back to the area in which we live in, to try and see when we would be able to go in. As of right now, the perimeter around my pocket of land has not been lifted and continues to be sectioned off. We are unaware as to when and what time we will be allowed to go into the house and get the valuables. We will not be allowed to take any clothes, they all need to be be bought. We can only take the essentials. However, I need my computer, my camera, my makeup, my design work, my iPod, my DS... my engagement ring. Things like that. Other than that, everything needs to stay in the house to have everything professionally packed up and sent to a storage facility until we are able to sort through it and see what to keep and see what needs to be fixed etc. It's all in the hands of the insurance adjuster, the structural engineer, the contractor and my parents.

It's so difficult to think about what lies ahead for my family and I. Yes, my house is destroyed, yes we cannot live in it, yes we need to go find alternative place to live, but we are all unharmed, safe and together.

As for right now, we just have to wait until tomorrow morning to get into the house. And we are still not 100% sure that we will be allowed into our home tomorrow. We do have good news. Our house is not one of the 6 that was listed as unsafe to enter and from the initial viewing from the adjuster, he said that the house is fixable. We, however do not understand what is meant by "fixable". When I get a chance to update you all again, I will.

Please continue to send your well wishes. They are much appreciated.
We love you, thank you, and remember you all here at MindSay have a special place in my heart.

Thank you for the comments on the last entry. When I get a chance, I will respond, however I thought that it would be best to write an entry telling you all about what happened.

I love you with all of my heart.
Always.

I am a librarian. You all know that, but basically, I am in the customer service industry. It isn't all that different from the days when I was a server and bartender. Here's the thing that I noticed has happened at both jobs.

 

When I am busy, it becomes an automatic reaction to respond to people. For instance, when you have a transaction with a customer and you assist them, people usually always say thank you. When I get that busy, I find that I start automatically saying "your welcome" at the end of the conversation. No big deal, right? Well, it can be when I say "your welcome" and the other person doesn't actually say "thank you". OOPS.

 

It just happened a few minutes ago, and the woman turned around, gave me a dirty look, and said, "thanks" in a pretty snide tone.

 

Thinking about it, I realize that it probably sounded like I was reprimanding her for not expressing gratitude. I truly wasn't, it just becomes a knee-jerk reaction. I feel a responsibility to be polite, so I have programmed myself to say "please", "thank you", and "your welcome" in every conversation. Which is a good thing--I think we can all agree to that.

 

I guess, though, that it only works if the other person is participating in politeness as well. Otherwise, I just sound sarcastic. Oh well, sometimes I am being sarcastic...might as well keep 'em guessing.

It's not my style to criticize as you know. However, I was going to ask my local library a simple question. Why is it okay to have Thomas E. Woods' 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask, but not any books by our own congressman?

Well, what do you know? They actually have two copies of The Revolution.

Thanks for joining the 21st century!

By the way, I recommend Mr. Woods' book to all Americans. It is an informative book regardless of which political party you worship, bend over for, are affiliated with.