Fortunate?

I found out Thursday that my parents had a "small" fire in their basement on Wednesday morning. While you would never say someone who had a fire in their house was fortunate, someone was watching out for my parents. The fire began with the dehumidifier in the basement (don't know the specifics). My parents go to church every morning, and are often gone much of the day. My mom returned home around 11:30, and smelled smoke when she went in the house. After she checked the appliances on the first floor, she found the smoke coming from the basement. She quickly got the portable phone, went outside and called the fire department. They arrived in about 10 minutes. The fire, itself, was contained to 1/2 of the basement. They feel so fortunate that no one was hurt. They feel so fortunate that my mom got home when she did. They were set to leave town for a week the next day. If the fire had started after they left town, the whole house would have burned. The unfortunate and inconvenient part is that fires are messy...really messy. The efficient air unit quickly dispersed the smoke and soot throughout the house. EVERYTHING is covered. They're staying on base right now, as they get the house cleaned. My dad is glad his office (the other half of the basement) didn't burn. Most of his books in his office are warped, but readable. His computer is shot. I am so thankful they are okay and know this is not something that's going to be cleaned up in a day or two.

Other sad news. Saturday, we found out that the Imp's best friend's mom had died. The mom, Dawn, had fought cancer a few years back, and was diagnosed with kidney cancer this past summer. We knew the prognosis was poor, but didn't realize how sick she really was. The Imp, my child who cannot stand to see someone sad, is wishing she could make it all better, but knowing she can't. I think she is able to be more of a comfort because of experiencing John's death so recently. It seems the universal response to this kind of thing is "I don't know what to do or say." That is magnified when it happens to teen-agers who don't know what to do or say under normal conditions. My heart goes out to the Imp's friend and the whole family. It's going to be a long year for this little girl.