Amanda recently lost her home to a fire. She sadly also lost her husband, 4 year old son, and 8 month daughter as well. Only Amanda and her 12 year old step daughter survived thanks to the help of neighbors that helped them from the burning home.
I have contacted several of my past and present sponsor that I thought would be able to help this family. Normally I would never do this, but Amanda really needs our help. Now more then ever. I would really like to take a moment to thank Litzky PR who put a box in the mail filled with toys like the Shred Sled, i-Dog, Nerf Set, and more within an hour of my email going out so that her 12 year old step daughter would have gifts under a tree for her. My great appreciation to them!
As Amanda and her Step Daughter try to put the pieces of their lives back together they are going to need a great deal of help and support. I am asking you my readers & my sponsors to do anything you can for Amanda. I know how hard rebuilding is in itself. Simple things like tooth brushes, underwear, school bag, they are all needed.What some of you may not be very aware of is that January 30, 2007 I came home from work to find my home engulfed in flames. We had lost everything we owned. Every important material item that mattered to me. No more baby pictures of my oldest, my wedding dress, my childhood pictures. All gone. Burned. I fell in to a negative depression where I felt empty and lost and if it hadn’t been for the support of my husband and the strength of my children I would have struggled incredibly to get out of it. It breaks my heart that Amanda has all this to face and deal with. Alone.
If Tomorrow Never Comes
If I knew it would be the last time that I’d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say “I love you,” instead of assuming, you would KNOW I do.
If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day,
well, I’m sure you’ll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there’s always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance to make everything right.
There will always be another day to say our “I love you’s”,
And certainly there’s another chance to say our “Anything I can do’s?”
But just in case I might be wrong and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget,
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.
So if you’re waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you’ll surely regret the day,
That you didn’t take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them and that you’ll always hold them dear,
Take time to say “I’m sorry,” “please forgive me,” “thank you” or “it’s okay”.
And if tomorrow never comes, you’ll have no regrets about today.
Author Unknown
I have asked Kristie a close friend of hers to guest post on my site for more added exposure for Amanda. Please read her letter below:
Hi! My name is Kristie from Kristie’s Notes and I am writing this guest post today in hopes that I can help a friend in need.
Last Tuesday, December 15th, an old friend of mine not only lost her home and all her belongings to a fire, but also lost her husband, her 4 year old son and her 8 month old daughter. This friend, Amanda, was saved by neighbors who put a ladder up to her window. Her 12 year old step-daughter, Aylissa, was also able to make it out safely. The neighbors tried putting a ladder up to the children’s window where Charlie (Amanda’s husband) was trying to save the children, Joshua and Emma, but were unable to due to the smoke and flames. The fire department was able to remove Charlie, Joshua and Emma from the house within 10 minutes of arriving but, as I already mentioned, it was too late.
It’s been hard holding back tears this last week. The pain that Amanda and Aylissa must be feeling is more than I can bare to think about. My heart aches for them.
The reason that I am sharing this story with you is to ask for your help. More than anything, Amanda could use prayers for comfort right now, but because she lost everything, she is also in great need of financial support. If Amanda’s story touches you, as it did me, please consider making a donation or share her story or both! I understand that this is a busy time of year and most of your budgets are stretched to their limits, but it you are able to help in any way please do so.
Amanda’s employer set up “The Buckland Family Trust Fund” for donations, which can be sent by snail mail here:
Ullenbruch’s Flower Shop
C/O Amanda Buckland
1839 Lapeer Ave
Port Huron, MI 48060
Or a Paypal account has also been set up to accept donations. If the button below does not work, please visit my blog where there is a working button in upper left-hand corner.
Paypal Donations
CLICK HERE
Of course, if sharing Amanda’s story and/or a donation is not feasible right now, she could always use more prayers and any support at all is greatly appreciated!also wanted to share a fire safety reminder as well.PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check your smoke detectors and, if you do not have any, please get some! Our local paper printed some statistics: From 2003 to 2006 40% of fire fatalities resulted in homes without smoke detectors. On top of that 23% more of fire fatalities were in homes that had smoke detectors that were not working. Smoke detectors do not cost much (I found a 3 pack at Amazon for under $17.00) and they save lives!
To read news articles about Amanda’s story please click http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912160310 here. To see news coverage click http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/Three-Killed-in-St-Clair-County-Fire/J09rssermUqsfD_zu1z95w.cspx.Last but not least, a huge thank you to Jennifer for asking me if I would like to do this guest post. She has been amazing and I cannot thank her enough for all the help and support she has offered to Amanda!
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I ask that you please do what you can if anything at this time.
Even if its just a card or a prayer.
And I, too, ask you to check your smoke alarms. I agree that its such a simple preventative that saves so many lives.
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