Our week: our car was totaled, our house broken into, our house caught on fire

>For a shorter/more updated version, click here<

This is one of the hardest posts I have ever written, please excuse my emotional grammar errors. Our week: our car was totaled, our house broken into, our house caught on fire. Sounds like a movie, a very bad movie in fact; but that was our week.  Literally from Tuesday through Friday we lost our car, our house was robbed, and our house caught on fire.  It seems unreal, it seems UN… REAL.  That’s the shortest version I can give, lol.  Below, I write a million words; and I apologize for that but I HAD to say it during this moment of “braveness”.

Car accident: On Tuesday our kids and I were on our way to the Bronx from Long Island for mid-week service, we had gotten lost a few times and I remember one of the kids saying we should just go back home; but I gave it one more shot.  We were driving on the highway and I felt the wheel pull me to the right, I grabbed the steering wheel a little tighter and it corrected itself.  A few minutes later the same thing happened and as I tried to hold the steering wheel tight and turn it a little towards the left so we wouldn’t veer to the right; our lives were suddenly ONLY in God’s hands. The car jerked us to the right, I jerked the wheel to the left so I wouldn’t hit the car next to me. I’m about to hit the center divider, so I swerved right. The car starts swerving violently from the far left to the far right of the freeway. My kids are screaming so loud, I start screaming like a drill Sargent “HOLD ON, HOLD ON, HOLD ON!!!” At the same time I remember asking God to please not let us flip over. Then we start spinning, I am holding on to the wheel as tight as I can, I am looking at my daughter sitting next to me in the passenger’s seat screaming for me. I see the lights spinning behind her head as if we were in a roller coaster scene from a movie.  I was watching a real movie in front of my face. I never stopped screaming “HOLD ON!” I remember the kids screaming “Mommy”, “I am holding on!”, “Oh God, help us!” We came to the end of the spin and slammed into the center divider with the front of the car, I remember my face went right into the steering wheel. The hit sent us into another spin. “HOLD ON BABIES, HOLD ON!” “MOMMY!” I remember ending the second spin by slamming into the center divider again.  My kids and I looked around, I didn’t know if the car was done spinning or if we were flying. I saw that we were stopped.  Against the center divider; facing oncoming traffic.  I saw a, entire highway just stopped as if they were on a starting line.  I remember my head throbbing because the last hit slammed my head on the window next to me.  I could hear my kids but at the same time I couldn’t hear. I unbuckled my seat belt and opened my door so I could check on the kids in the back.  I remember moving my body out of the car to stand but my legs didn’t get the memo.  I struggled to the back door and I couldn’t open it.  After what felt like an eternity; it finally opened.  My kids were hysterical, they were crying.  My 10 y.o. son starts screaming that his head hit the window 3 times, and he was scared.  My 9y.o son was crying so loud I couldn’t understand what he was saying.  My 12 y.o. daughter was crying and just holding her ears and saying my name.  My 14 y.o. daughter was in the front seat, hysterically screaming.

 

NO one stopped to help us.  Cars started to driver away, some honked at me as they were trying not to hit the door I had opened.  I didn’t have a phone, I went to stand in front of our truck, hoping to get someone to stop.  I was crying hysterically, looking at drivers as they looked at me straight to my face and drove away.   After at least 10 cars went by, there was a tow truck driver that was on that lane.  He stopped his truck a ways back and came running.  He asked if we were okay, if I had called 911, if I needed anything.  I remember trying to speak to him, saying I didn’t have a phone.  He handed me his phone, I couldn’t even remember the number to 911, like a bad joke.  He had to finish the call because I couldn’t speak.  He let me call my husband at work (whom we were supposed to go pick up before service).  I remember looking at a semi-truck driver who was on the far right lane as he was driving by, I was trying to ask for help, but I couldn’t speak.  He put his signal on and moved through traffic all the way to the far left where we were.  I remember him walking up to me and telling me that we were going to be okay, he told my kids they were going to be okay, that help was coming.  I remember him telling the tow truck driver how he couldn’t believe no one would stop to help us.  I remember the police and ambulance driving down the opposite side of the highway.  The tow truck driver called 911 and told them we were on the other side. My kids start crying louder and saying that they were scared the truck was going to blow up like in the movies.  I remember the semi-truck driver going around the car to check and telling my kids that it was going to be okay, that there was no gas leaking and that they were safer in the truck.

I can hear the sirens getting closer again and after what seemed an eternity; they come running to us.  An officer sat in our truck with my kids as they pushed the truck to the right side of the highway, I limped across the entire freeway with an officer, it just seemed so much more like a movie scene than life. A million questions, paramedics checking my kids out, I remember refusing service for myself because I had to ride with my son who hit his head 3 times; he has autism so you can imagine how determined I was not to leave him alone.  I remember the officers telling me that there was no family to pick up my kids so they would be taken to hospitals or the precinct until they could be picked up; after begging and crying; thy were all able to go with me to the hospital. Thankfully my son only suffered a concussion, my other kids were sore and shaken up. After a few hours in the hospital, our Aunt gave us a ride home, the kids were too scared to sleep alone; so we all camped out in the living room for the night.  We got home a little after 1 a.m. Just 2 weeks prior to the accident, we changed our insurance from total coverage to liability only so we could afford to move to another company and different plan.  Murphy’s law showed us that we now have no car at all.  

 

Our week: our car was totaled, our house broken into, our house caught on fire

 

The House Break-in: All night I was awake, I was nauseous and getting sick every hour; there was also a very bad rain and wind storm after w got home.  I remember going to the bathroom around 4 a.m. and hearing noise in the back, but I thought it was the strong winds outside; I went back to the couch. At 7 a.m. when my husband went to the back room to check the yard through the window; he started screaming for me.  I can’t say I ran because I was so sore from the accident, I think I wobbled. The back room is my home office, it had been broken into, I could see empty boxes of things all over the yard. I just couldn’t believe it; we were robbed while we all slept in the living room.

House Fire: Friday, our Uncle lent us his car so we can go get groceries, we were gone but a few hours.  My husband’s phone rings, I can hear our neighbor screaming hysterically asking where our kids were.  He told her they were with us; we never thought to hear the words she said next: “YOU’RE HOUSE IS ON FIRE WILL!” We all started crying, I can hear my kids asking God why; my husband asking if this was for real. We got to the house before the fire department, I broke.  I couldn’t hold it together anymore.  I could hear the kids sobbing, asking why; but I couldn’t even function.  I broke. I sobbed and screamed, and sobbed some more. Everything is a blur, and at the same time it’s so real that I can’t even breathe.  The Red Cross gave us all a blanket each, plastic baggies with toiletries for each of us.  That’s what we have.  Those are our only possessions. From what I was told that night by someone (can’t remember because everything is still in blur mode) is that since all of our windows were broken and roof and some wall holes to check for fires; that what wasn’t ruined by the fire was definitely ruined by the smoke and water.  I remember someone telling us that it would be months before we were able to move back. For now, our Family will be taken to a hotel for the week thanks to the Red Cross.  We don’t know what’s going on, what will happen; we just know that this week we will live in a hotel and that last week was what we hope to be the worst week of our lives… ever! It has always been very hard for me to ask for anything, even though my husband has PTSD from the Military, he also has never been able to ask for anything; but we are at a point where we have nothing.  We have 4 kids who need to get to school, we have to be able to get them from school if an emergency happens.  We have a special needs son who attends a special needs school, and the other 3 kids attend 3 different schools.  A car is vital, and as I have had this post in draft mode for a couple of days; it is with the heaviest of hearts that I am finally going to publish this and ask for help. Please, if all you can help with is a dollar or a Prayer, we TRULY appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts.

Update 10/18:

I received a few emails that people did not want to use gofundme, or the paypal donate button because they take a fee from the donation; so I was asked to please give my paypal address so the money can be gifted to us. I appreciate the support with all my heart, the paypal address is:

[email protected]

 

Here are 2 more updates since then:

Rebuilding our Lives https://www.militaryfamof8.com/rebuilding-our-lives/

Rising From the Ashes https://www.militaryfamof8.com/rising-from-the-ashes/</a