House fire opens eyes to generosity
It was one year ago, and at the time, none of us realized that what started as a frightening, awful event would actually serve as a positive experience for us as a family. On June 10, 2009, we had a fire in our home in Geneva. What has surprised us since then is how positive the impact has been on us.
The purpose of this letter is to say thank you to the countless people who have made this ordeal such an eye-opening life lesson. Our first thanks go to God, as there is no doubt in our mind there was divine intervention here. The fire occurred in the early evening hours, when most of the family would typically be at home, but on this day, for various reasons, the house was empty. What could have been a devastating tragedy, was nothing more than a major inconvenience.
That said, things would have been much worse were it not for the incredible response of the Geneva Fire Department and support from Elburn, St. Charles, Aurora, Winfield, West Chicago and Fermilab's fire departments.
The fire department did so much more than put out the fire. The advice, counsel and support they provided helped us get through the toughest time. We're also grateful to the police department for the added attention they gave to our home when it was unsecured.
We also thank our neighbors, whose quick reaction (and attempts to put out the fire) is the reason the fire departments were able to respond so quickly.
The positive impact of the fire began right after the initial shock wore off. We have always felt blessed to have our friends and neighbors, but we never fully understood how lucky we are. Living in a community like Geneva is truly a blessing.
One of the most touching acts came the day after the fire when an impromptu gathering of friends and neighbors came by and did a massive cleanup of the outside of the house, which included scraping remnants of a burned car from the driveway.
Since then, we've had numerous offers from friends and family opening their homes to us, several people bringing meals, lending us various things for the home, cards and gifts, taking on chores from shoveling our driveway to mowing our lawn, the list goes on and on. The support of the community didn't fade. Prayers were offered, friends watched or drove our kids, near strangers simply offered kind words of support.
We rebuilt our home, and we're so glad to be back.
God willing, we'll never lose sight of this and we will always try to be the kind of friends, neighbors and citizens all of you have proven to be over the past year. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts.
The Tom Brown Family
Geneva