Last week I was listening to Dave Ramsey and he was talking about the 20 things you would want to SAVE if your house was on fire. Here is my list
1) My Wife
1) My One Daughter (Name withheld to avoid the…Dad loves me (you) the best)
1) My Other Daughter (Ditto)
You will notice that all of the above are numbered #1. This is for my own safety.
I would not stop running back into a burning house until all three were safe. I would easily give my life for theirs. That’s not me being a hero, that’s me being selfish. I couldn’t bear to live without any one of them.
4) Our Dog Madison
Number 4 above is a special case, We do consider her part of the family and I would pain me to know she suffered, but she is not as important as my family and not worth leaving the kids without a dad. So as much as it would pain me to I don’t think I would go back into the burning house. Plus she ate my slippers.
5) Keepsakes that were my Dad’s (His Navy uniform, a wooden box with some of his cufflinks, tie clips etc)
6) A storage tote with some quilts (and other items) my Grandma made for me and my wife, and a box of my Grandma’s dishes that I got when she died
7) The external Hard Drive that I use to back up my computer. This has all of the digital photos / videos that I have taken of my girls and family. I guess this is the 21st century version of the old photo albums that families used to keep in the hall closet. The only difference is in the old days I would be carrying out about 300 photo albums that hold the 30,000 pictures I have on the hard drive.  I highly recommend you get one and start backing up your computer. Click Here read how you can do it.
The picture my Wife has of her Aunt beside our bed and the painting her Aunt made before she died.
Ok at this point I’m stumped. I have my family and any memories of family that could not be replaced. Anything else on the list is just stuff and could easily be replaced. In fact if I really think about it, I should be having a garage sale to get ride of most of it anyway, and use the money to pay off the Student Loans. A house is just Sticks, Drywall, Paint and some Shingles. It’s everything above that makes it a home.
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Tags: family
I would make a briefcase or large envelope and keep beside beside the external hard drive that held passports, birth cert, etc..
Maybe copies of insurance, car titles etc..
Good Idea!
This is such a good thing to think through and we have made what we call a “grab and go” list. It includes all the essentials that you may not think about in a panic and also lists their location in the home. We keep a fireproof safe under our bed with important documents, full computer back-ups on CD (we also have an external drive for more frequent back-ups), our wedding video, etc. Also listed are things like my husband’s medication, cell phones, important items for our children’s comfort (favorite blankie for instance). Listed as #2 priority are valuable paintings, jewelry box, etc. IF there is time. The first few items are #1 priority and the second items are #2 priority, again, only if there is time.
Thankfully we’ve never had to evacuate, but I’ve heard it’s difficult to think clearly when and if that time should come. It’s worth being organized ahead of time!
I have been a Firefighter for three years as of march 25 (my sons 3rd birthday)and I can tell you that a house fire is an intimidating thing and that a fathers love is beyound the bounds of reality. The only thing I would ever suggest you go back in a house for is a CHILD and then ONLY through the window of the room they are in. This is going to sound cold and cruel but if a person dies going back in for a spouse, who takes care of the kid? I’m assuming most parents will rescue children first. Stuff is stuff even if it’s important stuff, let it burn! Children and our great living americans are the most susceptable to fires take care of them first healthy adulds rarely die in fires.
I don’t want to sound preachy about this stuff but being a FF is more about teaching than riding around in a fire truck. when a house burns it’s a violent and distructive process, just hug your kids, spouse, cry and stay away.