Exactly 2 years ago, Matthew, Ryan and My house burnt down. It was December 5th, 2003.
It was the night of my Mother's birthday, my pug, Buddha's birthday, and it was the first snow of the season...
I had just decorated for Christmas, and went outside to look at the tree through the window...snow was gently falling. It was gorgeous.
We had our birthday party for Buddha(R.Scott Thompson, Sean MacLaughlin, Matt, and me).
R. Scott left, and Sean stayed. Sean and I stayed up with the Boo, drinking. Matt went to bed , as he had to open up the Luna the next morning.
He left the next morning, and as usual, I stirred awake after he left. The Today show was on...those fucking ALWAYS upbeat cartoons that they are...I glanced out the window to see if any more snow had fallen...I saw what looked like smoke...I took it at first to be steam...thinking that Matt had put some clothes in the dryer, and the exhaust fan was blowing steam...
I continued watching Al Roker assify himself, when I realized that the steam vent for the dryer was on the other side of the house...(just woke up...neurons not firing yet)..
I got up and realized that the smoke was not outside, but coming from the vent inside just below the window...
I had that moment, like in When a Stranger Calls when you realize that the call is coming from inside the house...
I ran to the bedroom door, and threw it open...smoke was everywhere...
Sean was sleeping on the couch, breathing in LOADS of smoke, but still asleep....
I woke him up and we searched EVERYWHERE for the source of the fire, but couldn't find it...
also bear in mind, just for comedic sake, that I was naked...I'm sure that freaked Sean out just a little bit more...
Finally, we heard a crack from behind Ryan's door...Ryan wasn't home that night...I opened the door...
Fire hit Oxygen and burst forth...there was a fire around the outlet/computer...I was afraid to throw water on it for fear of electrical concerns...
Sean dialed 911 and we ran down the street...(with Boo in tow)...
My boss, Kim, lived 2 minutes from my house at the time, so we ran to her house, threw Buddha in the house and ran back to the burning house...(thanks to Kim for throwing a coat on me).
The house was overcome by now...Sean and I were taken to an ambulance for smoke inhalation.
The house burned up well done in the meantime.
Matt and Ryan got there too late...all was lost by then....
Ryan lost EVERYTHING...
We lost a lot...mostly due to water damage...
We could have had it worse...I could have slept through it...I could have lost my Boo...
we were lucky...
I will always remember the Signature Theatre, and the cast of Funny thing...Forum, who donated LOTS of money to get us a new place...
I had to go on for Hysterium in Forum starting the night after the fire...I remember those weeks after the fire as a whirlwind...
Thank God for Eric Schaeffer taking us in...
I find it necessary to reflect every year on this traumatic event in our history...It feels like 30 years ago...but so much GOOD came out of that tragic morning that I firmly believe the old stand by tha things happen for a reason...
Merry Christmas to all...And check your smoke detectors, of which we had none at the time...
1 comment:
It breaks my heart to think about the fire and everything that was lost. But you are so right Stephen, when you say so much good came from that day. I know I lost EVERYTHING, but I gained an understanding that, EVERYTHING, is material. I'm just happy to still have my great roomies, which includes Boo, and all of my friends from the West End who helped me get back on my feet. And most of all, to Laurie Saylor who stood by me. It's the friendships and relationships that matter in this life, not the material possesions we all worry so much about. Don't forget about that this holiday season. Merry Christmas to all!
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