Cool Breeze: The Unfortunate Fortunate
Updated: Oct 3, 2018
I used to be in a networking group in the Springfield Missouri area where I met a mortgage officer who I became friends with. She referred her sister to us for a big move. Let’s call her Mrs. Fortunate. The home that she was moving out of was a gorgeous custom home, designed by Mrs. Fortunate, an engineer, herself. She was quite proud of the home and was only selling due-to-the-fact that her lifestyle didn’t need such a large place any longer.
The buyer was a doctor from Florida, and the closing, which was scheduled for January of 2018, had been pushed up a month due to the hospital needing her to start earlier than had originally been planned. The move was scheduled for the Monday after Thanksgiving and went off without a hitch. We sent two trucks over and had them out in a day. The only things left in the home were a few of their heirlooms that they wanted to move by hand to ensure safe passage, which I was told they did later on the evening of the move.
On Thursday, I had a meeting with the sister from my networking group. I was trying to refinance my home, and she told me she would be glad to meet with me so long as I didn’t mind her being dressed in grungy clothes due-to-the-fact that she was going over to help her sister clean the recently vacated house. When I walk in to see my friend I joked about how her clothes didn’t look grungy at all, her face went ashen as she said “oh, you haven’t heard yet?”
Earlier that day at work, the topic of conversation over morning coffee had been a massive fire that required several local fire departments to fight. The office manager in my office is married to a local fire fighter and he had come home with pictures and stories of the towering blaze. Apparently, it could be seen for many miles, and water had to be trucked in to contain it from the other homes and trees in the scenic neighborhood.
The home was equipped with a propane line that connected directly to the outdoor kitchen/grill area and had been left on. Somehow a spark had ignited the pecan doors, and hardwood floors. Luckily, the house was vacant at the time and no one was injured.
The unfortunate doctor that was supposed to close on the home 2 days later was back to the drawing board, missing out on this gem of a house. The Fortunate’s already had a home leased as they were planning the build of their next home. All of the Fortunate’s belongings had been moved out, and despite the ferocity of the blaze, no one was hurt. In other words, if your house was going to burn down, this was the ideal situation for it to happen. Still, it was emotionally difficult on Mrs. Fortunate. Not only had this been a home where her family had celebrated many holidays, it was a home she had personally designed. I made a phone call to give her my condolences, but there is only so much that could be said at the time.
Moving is a pain under normal circumstances, but that holiday season was not easy breezy for the Fortunate’s. I have spoken to her a few times since that fateful day and she has designed and built herself a home that fits her current life much better than her original home. Her life was back to normal, but they will never forget the week after Thanksgiving 2017. Let’s hope none of us ever have to deal with a similar holiday season.
Blog by Ryan Welch
CEO Breezy Moving