I used to hear those words uttered frequently by my grandmother. Her home was always neat and tidy, and, like the saying says, everything had its place. As a child I brushed it off, I'm not a very organized person by nature. Yesterday, however, my grandma's old saying hit me right in the face.
I had sat down at the computer to nurse M, and check the status of an order I had placed. I heard a firetruck's horn honk. It was loud, but since we're near a main street, I figured it was just passing by. I then looked to the window, and saw a man I had never seen before standing outside of our yard. He had a look of pure fascination and awe on his face. I knew something was up, so I ran upstairs to Cecy's (mother in law's) house and went outside (I can't see anything from our windows). When I went outside, the entire neighborhood was outside, along with four firetrucks, complete with hoses and the ladder. I dashed to the backyard, to see the neighbor's house engulfed in flames. I ran back inside to get the kids dressed (it's cold out) and ready in case the fire were to spread and we needed to leave. I had initially thought that the fire was closer because of the large amount of smoke and fire that I saw. It was four houses south of ours. Here in Chicago, our houses are 3 feet apart, so things can get out of hand. The wind was in our favor and our house was spared. The house south of the house that caught fire also caught a little fire, but it wasn't bad. In the end, a family of 6, including 4 children lost their home. I am so deeply sorry for them, but at least no one was hurt.
But back to my revelation. When I was trying to get the kids ready, I suddenly could not.find.anything. I couldn't find M's snowsuit, hat, or N's shoes. What if there were a true emergency? I'd like to have a blanket or something ready to grab in a split second in an emergency. But nope, couldn't find it. What an eye opener.
