Rebuilding house and life after a fire
This blog is a journal about a challenging time in my life due to a house fire, my son's depression, and beginning my empty nest stage of life. The fire at my house occured exactly 6 weeks before the first entry, and reliving it through writing is both difficult and helpful.The journal has caught up to real time now, but I do look back now and then to reflect and add perspective.Archives
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Category Archives: Stress
One Year Anniversary (99)
As I write this chapter, it is exactly one year since I got the call from my neighbor, while I was getting off the airplane, telling me there was a fire at my house and my son was on the … Continue reading
Posted in Change, Depression, Family Crisis, House Fire, My Life, Personal Memoir, Son, Stress, Turkey, Uncategorized
Tagged BAMC, Bastrop fires, Brooke Army Medical Center, change, daughter, dogs, empty nest, father's death, fire, fire anniversary, house, immigration laws, insurance, miscarriage, my life, personal memoir, post-trauma stress, reactions, smoke inhalation, son, son's depression
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Aggravations (65)
As I get closer and closer to moving back into my house, life gets busier and busier. By this time next month, I should be back in my newly-restored house. Move-in day can’t come soon enough! I haven’t gotten around … Continue reading
Posted in Contractor, House Fire, Insurance, My Life, Personal Memoir, Stress, Temporary Accommodations
Tagged contractor, fire, furniture, house, IKEA, insurance, mortgage company, my life, personal memoir, property damage
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And I’m feeeeling . . . not so good, actually (35)
One of my favorite songs is “Feeling Good” sung by Michael Bublé. I play it a lot, especially when I’m driving around. Sometimes I play it just because I like it and others times with the hope that I will, … Continue reading
Posted in Depression, House Fire, My Life, Personal Memoir, Son, Stress, Therapy
Tagged anti-depressants, depression, fire, house, my life, personal memoir, son, son's depression, therapy
2 Comments
When does the fun begin? (34)
When a catastrophe of some kind occurs, you receive a lot of sympathy and attention the first week or so and it definitely helps you get through the initial shock. The real challenge, though, comes from surviving the day-to-day tasks … Continue reading
Posted in Clothing, Contractor, Daughter, Facebook, House Fire, House Sale, Insurance, My Life, Personal Memoir, Personal Property, Realtors, Stress, Temporary Accommodations, Uncategorized
Tagged contractor, daughter, fire, house, insurance, my life, personal memoir
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A parent’s worst nightmare (32)
Today a friend of mine is burying her son. He was 22 and had suffered from Depression and Asperger’s Syndrome during his short life. He committed suicide; it is every parent’s worst nightmare. She had lived with this fear for … Continue reading
Posted in Depression, Family, Friends, House Fire, My Life, Personal Memoir, Post-Trauma Stress, Relationships, Stress, Suicide, Therapy
Tagged family, fire, my life, personal memoir, son, son's depression, suicide, therapy
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Silver Linings (30)
“At least you’ll get some new furniture.” “Your house will be more marketable after renovating it.” “How lucky you have insurance to pay for a fresh start.” These are some of the reactions I got when people heard about my house … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Change, Colleagues, Daughter, Downscaling, Family, Friends, House, House Fire, House Sale, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir, Personal Property, Rebuilding, Shopping, Son, Stress, Uncategorized, Writing
Tagged academic, colleagues, daughter, dissertation, ER, family, fire, hospital, house, Jewish, master's thesis, my life, personal memoir, silver lining, son, stress, writing
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Stress is eating me up, or please pass the chocolate (27)
To say that I’m stressed these days is an understatement. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people who lose appetite and thus, weight when I’m going through tough times. Just the opposite. I’m an emotional eater, I admit it. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Austin, Change, Daughter, Diet, Exercise, Family, Family Crisis, Friends, Hospital, Hotel, House Fire, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir, Son, Stress, Uncategorized, Weight, Weight Loss
Tagged cookbooks, daughter, diet, emotional eating, exercise, family, fire, hospital, house, kitchen, my life, New York City, personal memoir, son, suburban, weight, YMCA
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Traveling again (24)
I’m about to leave on another business trip and I’m feeling anxious. It’s been about six weeks since I returned from the last trip and got that call from my neighbor David about the fire in the house and my son on … Continue reading
Posted in Austin, Colleagues, Contractor, Daughter, Depression, Dogs, Family, House, House Fire, Insurance, My Life, Personal Memoir, Personal Property, Post-Trauma Stress, Relationships, Son, Stress, Temporary Accommodations, Travel, Uncategorized, Work Life
Tagged colleagues, contractor, daughter, ER, family, fire, house, insurance, my life, neighbors, personal memoir, son, son's depression, work life
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Bitch (21)
Grumpy. Cranky. Out-of-sorts. Bitch. That’s how I feel these days and probably how other people think of me, at least some of the time. There’s nothing like dealing with incompetence to make me spin into bitch mode. Pre-fire, I tried to practice … Continue reading
Posted in Change, Colleagues, Contractor, Depression, Dogs, Family, House, House Fire, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir, Relationships, Rescue Dogs, Son, Stress, Technology, Therapy, Uncategorized
Tagged Buddy, cable TV, colleagues, computer, family, iPhone, my life, neighbors, personal memoir, reactions, Rosie, son, son's depression, technology, therapy
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After the Fire: Rebuilding house and life 