Hello, kind stranger

The word spread early on Christmas morning. Via text, IM, phone, email - the ripple effect was beginning.

Aly had texted her two closest friends who woke their moms with the news. They started spreading the word locally. I had called my dear big bro, Paul, and sis in law, Chris - and they started rallying the family. Baze posted to the ex-Tivoli distribution list and to the Yelp community. He immediately set up a paypal relief fund for us through the BD Rileys website. From the ex-Tivoli list, word jumped over to the ex-Convex list. Within just a few hours, literally hundreds of people knew of our situation. And despite the fact that it was Christmas day, and the fact that they undoubtedly had plans of their own, people mobilized.

Local folks showed up with clothing and toiletries and blankets and towels. Remote folks started donating. On their Christmas day, everyone stopped what they were doing and completely shifted gears to come together to take care of our family. And I am not talking about a small handful of our closest friends and family (though of course they did too), I mean many many folks did this for us: folks we had not seen in years, people we barely knew and, yes, people we did not know at all.

We still had soot on our faces, we were still in shock, and there were hefty bags full of clothes lined up in Mo and Ronnie's house. The steam was rising from the remains of our home at the same time that the funds were rising in the paypal account.

I can only say this: it is incredibly humbling to be on the receiving end of this outpouring, this sheer tidal wave, of selflessness and love and support.

At one point, our neighbor George (you know, the George I had awakened at 4:30am) came over to Mo and Ronnie's with his son Robert who lives south of Austin. Robert had a pile of Christmas presents, all colorfully wrapped, with tags that said things like "for the teenage boy" or "for mom". He explained that after George had called to tell him what was going on, he had told a friend of his. And this friend, who we have never met and whose name we do not even know, had sent up presents for our family. Seeing as how this was Christmas, we know that this family did not go out shopping that day. They must have taken gifts from under their own tree - to give to a family they have never met. How beautiful is that? To see my 16 year old son open a brand new wii - right after just losing everything and almost losing his life - and to see him staring at it, trying to comprehend..."Wait, who is this from?", he asked. We don't know, I told him. It is from people we have never even met. This abundance of generosity and kindness from people we have never even met. Hello, kind stranger.