10 Years Ago Today: El Fuego

Ten years ago, I was living and working in Atlanta. I was at the office on a Friday afternoon, and I got a call from a friend who said a building in the complex where I lived was on fire. She had seen it on the news.

I called the apartment office and found out it was MY apartment building. It was the end of the day, and I had to endure Friday rush hour traffic before I could get there. All I could really think about was my two kitties, Marianne and Sophie.

When I got to the apartment, it was a bit worse than the worst case. I lost everything I owned. The most devastating part, by far, was the loss of my cats.

I often think about them: Sophie, beautiful and fluffy, who rolled over to have her fat belly rubbed and always want to be in the room with me...at a slight distance. She would occasionally sit in my lap, but if I moved too much -she would be gone. Marianne demanded attention. She would travel under the covers to my feet and curl up there. She was not a particularly pretty cat (with a tail as skinny as a pencil), but she thought she was a show cat.

The loss of the "stuff" wasn't as hard. (Photos and artwork were the only things I truly missed.) It helped that I had renter's insurance. If memory serves, I may have been the only person in the building who did. It was overwhelming to start re-assembling a household. I can remember walking into a mall and thinking, "Where do I start? I need EVERYTHING." For once in my life, I did not enjoy shopping.

What sticks out in my mind was how kind and giving people were to me after the fire. My then boyfriend, his family, my family, my friends, co-workers, my employer, neighbors, strangers, the Red Cross... There was an incredible outpouring of generosity and support, and on this anniversary, I most remember that kindness.