The most surprising thing about this whole experience for us has been the generosity of our community. Our family, friends, schools, sports teams, community and even people we don’t know have been so generous with their time, things and money. The support has been humbling and we are trying to figure out a way to thank everyone, so stay tuned on that.

I plan to share a few specific stories from this support here, and will do my best to recognize everyone who has supported us.

The first story I want to share was from the day after the fire. For some reason, I thought I personally needed to go to Target and pick up some basic necessities for the family — toothbrushes, deodorant, etc. At some point during the day, someone had given me some cash, so with my cash in hand (literally –  I had no purse),  and in a borrowed car, I went to Target.

Running on no sleep and a lot of adrenaline, I navigated the store for the things we needed. I was definitely in a fog, but also liked the feeling of normal routine it brought me.

I got to the checkout and was watching the total bill for my purchases grow and grow. The final total was more than $40 higher than I could afford. I had dropped my crumpled up wad of cash on the counter to count and asked the cashier to start taking things out of the bag for me.

Just then, a woman gets into line behind me. It was my dear friend, Karin Gaertner, who was in Target picking up a few things on this Memorial Day afternoon. She gives me a big “Hey Dory!!! How’s it going?” I looked at her and completely lost it.

I proceed to have a complete melt down in the line at Target while I tell Karin the story. She’s hugging me. I’m crying. The cashier is confused, but also joins us for a hug.

Karin shoves the crumpled cash back into my hands and pays for my things. I am relieved. We say goodbye and I walk to the parking lot and suddenly stopped, and stood there hopelessly. I had absolutely no recollection of what car I was driving. I knew it was a light colored sedan, but other than that, I couldn’t remember anything about what it looked like and where I parked it.

That was the first time of many I would lose a borrowed car. I learned to use the alarm button on the fob to find my cars over the course of the next few weeks.

There was a reason Karin was there at Target that afternoon. And, it doesn’t matter which higher power I believe in — something or someone aligned the stars for me that afternoon,  I’m glad Karin was there.