5 Years Ago Today

My Life Changed Forever...For The Good, I think...


Five years ago today I found myself walking up my driveway past a Police Line.

I almost forgot to say anything about this experience this morning, because I wasn’t looking at a calendar when I was writing.

Any way…five years ago this noon my house on Kennedy Lane in Marietta, Georgia, burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire.

OK, it didn’t actually burn to the ground, because it was brick on four sides, but the important parts were basically charred beyond recognition except for a few items of memorabilia and things that were hosed down with water by the fire department.

I was paralyzed at first, but within a few days I accepted my fate—the end of an eight year run of bad luck involving deadbeat business partners, bitchy ex-wives, bankrupt business creditors, and just plain bad luck and stupidity on my part.

It has actually been a bit refreshing—the loss of responsibility that is…

My Teddy Bear, my stuffed monkey Mr. Zip with the chewed off plastic 1960's fingers, my Tonka Dump Truck, my trains and model airplanes and virtually everything I had amassed during the first 41 years of my life were gone in about four hours, according to the official report.

I even had to endure an “official” police investigation looking for any indication of arson and otherwise mal-intent. They asked me to take a lie detector test if any suspicion was to arise as a result of their forensic investigation.

They shook my hand and walked away without further incident.

To add insult to injury, someone broke into the damaged structure, not once, but twice, and tossed the contents of my charred bookshelves and drawers into the floor flooded with ash and muck.

The same pair of juveniles then returned, choosing to beat in the sunroof of my disabled Nissan Maxima. Even though they were tried and convicted in court, since they lived in "Section 8 housing" I had to settle for selling my beloved low mileage auto for scrap because the repair cost exceeded the wholesale value.

In the end, I’ve figured out that it doesn’t really matter.

After All, You Can't Take It With You...

Right?