This week was the time of the greatest heartbreak and greatest inspiration of my life. I lost my beloved three dogs and the entire contents of my house to a fire.
When I awoke to the smell of smoke at 3 a.m., my phone power was out. I tried running through the house to rescue my three girls, but when I reached them it was too late. Then I ran across the street to a college house that was lit up. I woke a student, Miller Judge, an angel who wrapped me in a blanket, gave me some water and called 911 and two of my friends.
The EMTs were so compassionate. David Shaw, the fire chief, gently told me about the damage and what he thought the cause was. My next-door neighbors, Pam Taylor and Robert Keren, took me in, helped me call my family and cared for me until my son arrived.
Priscilla Baker, from Middlebury Friends and Hospice, spent hours with me. She took me to Green Mountain Shoe and Apparel. There, Angela Wade, the owner, made a list of what she thought I would need, and with her generous heart helped me select shoes, mittens and other everyday essentials. When I got a new phone from AT&T, the salesman gave me $20, saying, “This is for a new beginning.”
That was the beginning of days during which people offered to let me live in their homes, and treated me as if I were part of their family.
It is a blessing to live in this town.
Faith Lowell
Middlebury