Yesterday morning, the house was quiet and peaceful when I headed downstairs to let out the dog and get myself something hot to drink. After a little while of sipping my "coffee" (a term used loosely to describe the coffee-flavored concoction I drink) in the living room, I heard the thump - thump - thump of my dad's footsteps on the stairs. (This was unusual because, since his heart attack and forced retirement, Dad plays video games all night and resultingly wakes up late in the mornings.)
No longer alone, I headed upstairs to the solitude of my now bedroom (not to be confused with the larger bedroom I inhabited during my late teens and early 20's). Settling under my covers to write a blog, I heard the muffled tones of my mom's voice from behind her door. I could not make out what she was saying, but she was in there and talking for a very long time. I figured it was just another Biblical discussion with the friend who calls during their daily devotionals, but I didn't know. In fact, Mom was on the phone with a different friend who was asking for prayer for one of her friends. When I later spoke to Mom, she told me the story. I want to share it with you:
I do not know the name of Mom's friend's friend, so I will call her Joy for ease of storytelling. She is an unmated woman who lives and boards horses in the farmland area of Southeastern Wisconsin. (Mom said she lives, "Out near Palmyra somewhere," if that gives you any idea of the remoteness of where Joy lives.) I am not sure if she is widowed, divorced or never married, but the point is that she lives alone. She attends regular church services, is an active participant in and beloved member of her church community. I believe this is how my mother's friend knows her.
For heat in her house, Joy uses an oil-burning furnace -- for which she keeps a large, oil tank in her basement. Around Thanksgiving (the end of November), Joy had her oil tank filled in preparation for the winter. It was not long after filling the tank that it BURST. The whole basement and everything in it (including the ceiling) is now covered in black crude and several INCHES of the stuff lays evenly across the floor. Because of the oil fumes, the house is uninhabitable.
Now, Joy does have homeowner's insurance. In theory, the insurance company would hop right on taking care of the clean-up and getting Joy back into her home as quickly as possible. . . in theory. But theory is not always the way reality works. In the real world, the insurance company wants to assign blame for the calamity. It will not move on clean-up (which is estimated between $20,000 and $120,000) before a metallurgist is found, hired, comes to study the tank and gives an idea of what s/he thinks about who is to blame for the damage. [Shall I now offer my comments on the detrimental side-effects of blame? Perhaps in another post.]
Also in theory, the insurance company would help pay for Joy to live in some sort of temporary residence. But remember: She boards horses. She needs to stay on premisis to be able to care for them. Fortunately, a neighbor is allowing Joy to use his camper-trailer so that she can live on site. . . (I guess she is in her driveway?) She is very thankful for the loan and to be able to continue boarding horses for income while her situation is assessed by insurance and remedied.
Unfortunately, the camper has NO HEAT in it. Joy's only source of warmth in her temporary home is a heated mattress pad! (Brrr!) This is the state of affairs in "Joy's" life, exactly one week before Christmas 2011. The temperature outside when I woke up this morning was 20 degrees F (-6.66 C). As winter deepens, it only gets colder. Meanwhile, Joy's insurance company strives to assign blame before it will even begin her house clean-up (which will take quite a bit of time).
This holiday season, please keep in mind that bad things happen to good people. But even when the present circumstances could be much better, they could probably also be much worse. This is the season to concentrate on and celebrate every goodness we have in our lives, no matter how small -- even if it is just a heated mattress pad in a generously loaned, subfreezing camper.
Merry Christmas, a few days early. God Bless You All.
~Beth Durkee
No longer alone, I headed upstairs to the solitude of my now bedroom (not to be confused with the larger bedroom I inhabited during my late teens and early 20's). Settling under my covers to write a blog, I heard the muffled tones of my mom's voice from behind her door. I could not make out what she was saying, but she was in there and talking for a very long time. I figured it was just another Biblical discussion with the friend who calls during their daily devotionals, but I didn't know. In fact, Mom was on the phone with a different friend who was asking for prayer for one of her friends. When I later spoke to Mom, she told me the story. I want to share it with you:
I do not know the name of Mom's friend's friend, so I will call her Joy for ease of storytelling. She is an unmated woman who lives and boards horses in the farmland area of Southeastern Wisconsin. (Mom said she lives, "Out near Palmyra somewhere," if that gives you any idea of the remoteness of where Joy lives.) I am not sure if she is widowed, divorced or never married, but the point is that she lives alone. She attends regular church services, is an active participant in and beloved member of her church community. I believe this is how my mother's friend knows her.
For heat in her house, Joy uses an oil-burning furnace -- for which she keeps a large, oil tank in her basement. Around Thanksgiving (the end of November), Joy had her oil tank filled in preparation for the winter. It was not long after filling the tank that it BURST. The whole basement and everything in it (including the ceiling) is now covered in black crude and several INCHES of the stuff lays evenly across the floor. Because of the oil fumes, the house is uninhabitable.
Now, Joy does have homeowner's insurance. In theory, the insurance company would hop right on taking care of the clean-up and getting Joy back into her home as quickly as possible. . . in theory. But theory is not always the way reality works. In the real world, the insurance company wants to assign blame for the calamity. It will not move on clean-up (which is estimated between $20,000 and $120,000) before a metallurgist is found, hired, comes to study the tank and gives an idea of what s/he thinks about who is to blame for the damage. [Shall I now offer my comments on the detrimental side-effects of blame? Perhaps in another post.]
Also in theory, the insurance company would help pay for Joy to live in some sort of temporary residence. But remember: She boards horses. She needs to stay on premisis to be able to care for them. Fortunately, a neighbor is allowing Joy to use his camper-trailer so that she can live on site. . . (I guess she is in her driveway?) She is very thankful for the loan and to be able to continue boarding horses for income while her situation is assessed by insurance and remedied.
Unfortunately, the camper has NO HEAT in it. Joy's only source of warmth in her temporary home is a heated mattress pad! (Brrr!) This is the state of affairs in "Joy's" life, exactly one week before Christmas 2011. The temperature outside when I woke up this morning was 20 degrees F (-6.66 C). As winter deepens, it only gets colder. Meanwhile, Joy's insurance company strives to assign blame before it will even begin her house clean-up (which will take quite a bit of time).
This holiday season, please keep in mind that bad things happen to good people. But even when the present circumstances could be much better, they could probably also be much worse. This is the season to concentrate on and celebrate every goodness we have in our lives, no matter how small -- even if it is just a heated mattress pad in a generously loaned, subfreezing camper.
Merry Christmas, a few days early. God Bless You All.
~Beth Durkee
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