In Case of Fire What Would We Save?

For the Rocket Moms Advanced Friday Lens Challenge #2, we wrote about what we would take with us if our house would burn down.

Of course there is the obvious choice that we must go beyond: The Computer, family and pets, money and valuables. Not necessary in that order.

I asked my husband, Tim, who already thinks I'm a "Nut Case", wasting all my time typing away at the computer. His reply to this was the only one that I myself could come up with. The same answer that we have heard when someone's house burns down or is hit by a tornado. "All our photos are gone. They were irreplaceable."

A photo is a memory of our past and a piece of our life that can never be replaced.

We have had our digital cameras for only a few years. The majority of our pictures have not been scanned and put on the computer nor stored on some photo sharing site. If our house would burn down tomorrow and we could not grab our photos...those pictures of our past would be all but fading memories.

If our house burned down tomorrow, Tim would not have this photo of his parents at their 50th anniversary party.

This was a great day. Tim's parents knew that their children, (who lived in the area) were planning on taking them out for a dinner celebration. What they didn't know was that their son and his family from Massachusetts had planned on being there as well. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we were lead to a back room where around 200 guests joined in this celebration surprise.

Tim came from a family of five kids. The last three children came late in his parents life's. Tim being the baby of the family. His oldest brother and sister are old enough to be his parents. I met my in-laws in their twilight years.

Not too many years after the 50th anniversary party, my father-in-law's signs of Alzheimer had progressed to the point where my mother-in-law could no longer take care of him at home. He had a tendency to wonder off and think he was a young man working on a farm.

Reluctantly he went to a reputable nursing home. We thought he was getting good care. But the night we visited and found him strapped to an adult highchair soiled, all hell broke loose. Let's just say, the staff no longer appreciated my husband there.

Both of my husband's parents have passed away since this picture. But the memory of them stays in our hearts.

Read more about my father-in-law in Alzheimer's Disease Prevention With Ginkgo Biloba

What about that Halloween Party with our friends? Even then I was a busy gal. I made my friend, Julie's ballerina costume, Tim's doctor's outfit and my one of a kind (my own pattern) space lady costume. (Maybe I should of been a fashion designer.)

I hate to say it, but I grew up in the domesticated female era. Not only did I learn how to be a great cook, but learned how to be an excellent seamstress. For those who really know me, I am a modest person. But if I am good at something, I won't lie about it. Though, not just a Susie Homemaker. I continued on with an Engineering career, working in a male dominated field. I can personally say that discrimination is still very much alive.

To get back to the costumes...my friend, Julie never sewed a day in her life. Naturally, I was more than willing to make her outfit. Later on I gave her a spare sewing machine. After one sewing lesson, she ended up to be better at this than me. She had people coming up to her to sew outfits for them and their children. She created decorative pillows and made good money off of her handiwork.

Julie was usually there when I needed a last minute babysitter. One night, I returned back to their apartment from a meeting. Julie relayed to me about the two women who came up to her. She was waking with my daughter in the stroller. "She looks just like you," they said.

I responded back to Julie, "Is there something you are not telling me about?"

Our friends have moved on as sometimes people do. I have some very fond memories of our friendship. Without these photo memories, how will we remember the fun times with friends that we had.

My daughter Brittany was asked this same question. She told me that she had already thought of this many times. From her apartment (while attending college), she would fill her hamper up with all her dirty and clean clothes, and shoes. Clothes would be too expense to replace.

Then I asked her about her home here. What would be the first thing that she would grab? Brittany's reply was, "That's easy, Chico!" She was then told about this assignment. She yelled out, "You are not going to tell everyone that this college student would grab a stuffed toy, would you?"

Of course not! Only those who read this lens will know about Chico.

Chico is more than a stuffed toy. He is a crocheted collie that my mother made for me. Not meant for a child's hands. Not intended to be a toy at all. But a trophy dog to be placed where all human hands would have little contact with it and this is the way my mother would have wanted it to be.

Certain events changed that. To this day, Grandma does not understand.

Do you thnk Chico should of stayed as a trophy dog or a child's toy?