Edinburg, Virginia—

It has been 4 weeks since thanksgiving. Mine and my family’s lives have forever been changed.  We lost our house and most of our belongings to devastating fires. (Yes, it burned twice). Standing there both days I wondered how would we ever recover.

We spent the next two weeks in a motel. We learned many things in those 2 weeks.

First and most importantly the physical belongings, while upsetting to lose the memories, they don’t really matter. What matters is our loved ones. The four of us have become closer and our bond stronger.

Second we learned that family is not limited to blood.  Our blood family has been there offering everything they could. And so has our work, school, and fire department family. While we knew we had many friends we found out it is a big family.  

Then there is the community. We have had complete strangers stop us in town and offered their sympathy for our loss. If it was not for this loss I would not know how lucky we are. 

Many would wonder how I can say we are lucky.  If it wasn’t for losing our house and having every vehicle we own break down in the last month, we would not know how much we are loved and cared for.  

There are so many people to thank that it has been overwhelming. If you have given to us in anyway please know if we have not said it to you, we are thankful and will never be able to truly repay those who have helped us. The best we can do is try to pay it forward.

We were the recipients of a Christmas jar. We have taken that jar and are working on filling it for someone next year. This jar is a physical reminder to us to treasure what we have now as it can all be gone in a flash. For those that are wondering, we are in a house that will be our home until we rebuild.

Through the generosity of many people we have been able to fully furnish it with minimal purchases. We have been able to make it not just a house but a home. We were able to meet our goal of being in a house for Christmas 🎄.  We had several groups that helped our family to have a wonderful Christmas.  

Again we thank those who were generous with presents and love ❤️.  We thank god for showing us what we truly have and how loved we are by family, friends, and community.  As I have come to understand, it is only up from here.

May 2021 be a better year for us all. 

—Merry Christmas from the Miller Family