Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Nothing Where A House Once Stood...

This is the site where my cousin and her husband's house stood on Monday and actually stood for decades before they moved there seven years ago. A cute little farm house that Susan had made her own. Complete with the vintage look she loves and the many cats that make it home.

Here it is today...I don't think Ive ever seen a house so consumed by fire. It brings a new vision to my mind when people use the phrase "burned to the ground". It truly was burned to the ground.

There is nothing left. They have lost everything, including 7 beautiful, wonderful kitties. Susan has been able to retrieve one of her outdoor cats, Spooky. He is resting comfortably at the Avoca Medical Clinic until Susan and Rich decide their next step.
There is a donation savings account started for Rich and Susan Prince at Rolling Hills Bank in Walnut Iowa...at this point, the only way to help is to give them a shoulder to cry on, or donate. They are currently in a motel room, so food and clothing would be a storage problem. I personally thank anyone and everyone that will pray for them. Pray for direction and comfort.
Its amazing to me how a small community comes together during times like this. Total strangers have given money to help, and many, many are offering assistance in any form. When the trees began burning and they had to come down, people just appeared with tractors and equipment to get the job done.



An interesting bit of information: This upturned block, is located within the foundation of the house, under where the front porch was...this is the block where my kitty, Possum was trapped for days...only a few weeks old, she could not get out and we found her right there! What a memory! We had to saw apart the porch and remove foundation blocks to get to this piece of concrete! Why it was inside the foundation, under the porch , in the corner, upturned, I will never know! A trap waiting for a small kitty to fall in! I will ask if I can have that block!


9 comments:

Kris ~ Fabric ala Carte (aka The Scrappy Quilter) said...

OMG! How terrifying! You read my mind about that block...take it home, if possible.

Kathy said...

I for sure want to keep it! I just have to make sure I get up there for it before someone hauls it all away or something. Its bitter cold, so I dont think it will be done for a while..

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the pictures. I am Richie's sister and this is all sad. Your post is beautiful, especially in what you are asking for: prayers, especially for direction. Thank you for your support and the support from the community. I know it means so much to Richie and Susan. Please take care of them.

Cary Schmidgall
Milwaukie, Oregon

Kathy said...

Cary, So good to hear from you. Richie and Susan seem to be doing ok. They are busy getting things in order. I worry about the stress on both of them. We are all doing what we can to help and the people around here are amazing! We will indeed take care of them. They will be blessed by your comments.. :)

Kathy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kathy said...
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Curtains In My Tree said...

My break breaks for your cousins and those sweet little kitty's

well I can't stand it. Please God let there be an animal heaven or put them with us humans Amen

I will spread the word on my blog where can we send a card

Janice

Curtains In My Tree said...

I ment to say I heart breaks for your cousins

I really need to edit more

Janice

Kathy said...

Thank you Janice, you are so kind...I too hope there are animals in heaven...I figure it this way, God made animals before he made us...Christ is coming back on a white horse...He is called the Lamb of God...I think God loves animals!

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