In case you haven't heard, surrounding parts of Austin have been engulfed in wildfires. The relentless dry heat and record lack of rain this summer offer no containment for the burning. Many people have lost their homes. My best friend's parents had to evacuate their home, but fortunately they had a place to stay. I think the count now is up to 400 homes that have been lost.
Though our home is not in the endangered path, I cannot help but think of those who've lost everything. I know that possessions don't hold eternal value. I know they do not make up the sum of who we are. I know that it is just stuff. However, we live day in and day out using this stuff that we've accumulated over the years and can find ourselves attached to it.
You've probably thought about this before, but what would you quickly gather if you knew your house was burning down and you would lose everything inside? Besides the obvious of my family (Marlow included, of course), I'm not sure. I guess grabbing social security cards, birth certificates, marriage license, and business identification would be good choices. I inherited my great-aunt's china from Japan, but I'm not personally attached to it. I have some hand-made clothes my mom has made, but I could live without those. There are a lot of pictures in storage from my childhood, before digital photos came about, so once they are gone, they'd be gone forever. But even without those, I could carry on. Wedding ring? Honestly, I could do without it. It symbolizes the commitment of my marriage, but still it's just stuff. Once I'm in the ground someday, it won't have any value to me then. I am sure there are things that I would genuinely be sad if I lost, but today I'm trying to keep the perspective that none of it really matters.
--
What about you though? What would you take in case of a fire?
Update: I would be devastated without the journals that chronicle my life, beginning in 5th or 6th grade. A rather narcissistic response, I guess, but writing was often my lifeline and my way of finding sanity at times. As an avid journaler, I have books filled since 1995. God's story of redemption in my life, personal growth, and perseverance through trials are in these books. Can't be replaced.
Aaaaaannd our computer hard drive!!
Update: I would be devastated without the journals that chronicle my life, beginning in 5th or 6th grade. A rather narcissistic response, I guess, but writing was often my lifeline and my way of finding sanity at times. As an avid journaler, I have books filled since 1995. God's story of redemption in my life, personal growth, and perseverance through trials are in these books. Can't be replaced.
Aaaaaannd our computer hard drive!!
2 comments:
Good food for thought sister. I'm with you on grabbing family, pets, and old journals ... I would also have to add my scrapbooks and our external hard drive with all of our pictures on it!
If I had time after grabbing my baby (or babies if after this November) I'd grab my external hard drive for sure! We have a backup hard drive with everything also in our fire safe but I don't trust the fire-proofness completely. I would hate to lose all of our baby's photos and videos!
For insurance purposes our agent recommends writing down all of our possessions, but this seems like an impossible task. Instead I went around our house with a digital camera and video taped everything room by room - opening all the cabinets, drawers, going into the basement, etc (that video is also on our hard drive in the fire safe).
(We also have a fire ladder in our bedroom since we have a 2-story home. Hopefully we'd be prepared to all get out quick and safely!)
Post a Comment