Fire

This entry may seem strange, because it's a happy memory, but doesn't seem like it...in fact, I'm not really sure why it's a happy one, but it is.....


When I was very small, I would get ear infections often. We had no insurance, and no money to go to the doctor, so my mom's usual treatment would be warm oil on a cotton ball placed in my ear, which did help.

One time, the infection was really bad. Oil wasn't helping, and my mom knew I needed to see the doctor. She bundled me up and put me in the car. It was night, and we had to go into town to the urgent care clinic.

On the way, we stopped at an intersection. Only a few blocks away, an entire building was on fire, and flames towered above us. As it was nighttime, there were not many cars on the road, and my mom pulled over so we could watch. I snuggled up with my mom. I'm not sure how long we stayed to watch, but when it was over, she asked how my ear felt. It didn't hurt! We drove home instead of to the clinic. I was 5, my daughter's age right now.



maybe I do know why it's a happy memory. I was with my mom, and it was just the two of us. My brother must have been born at that time, possibly my sister, which would have made me 6....my mother's marriage was probably not going well, and so must have been a bit hectic around the house. Watching a tragedy that was not ours, from the safety and stillness of my mom's arms -- would have been calming almost.....also, I doubt that I understood the enormity of the tragedy of a burning building...I remember being awed by the hugeness of the fire, and the chaos that wasn't being controlled....There must have been firemen there, but I don't remember seeing anyone. hhmmm...maybe still shouldn't be a happy memory...but it is.