MommyWeighLess

Melanie is one of the most kind, caring, and loving women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She never has a bad thing to say about anyone, and she ALWAYS has a smile on her beautiful face. She loves Rich with every fiber of her being, and I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it must be for her to see him so down on himself. Rich and Melanie lost their home to a fire . Melanie lost her home. She also lost her sweet dog, Abby. As a woman I know that our homes help to define us. We make them a representation of our lives and our happiness. Our homes are our sanctuary. Melanie had a gorgeous home, and the doors were always open to visitors. Her home was inviting and warm. Now her home is gone. The brick still stands. But it is no longer warm and inviting. It isn't a happy place. It is scary. It is heartbreaking. It is overwhelming. She worries that no matter what they do...they will never get the smell out. In all honesty I don't think it is a smell any o...

Rich is one of the most driven and ambitious people I know . He has worked hard his entire life to achieve all that he has...all that he had. He had a beautiful home that he and Melanie designed together, and put their own blood, sweat, and tears into. He had an amazing garage full of tools and equipment. In that garage was an old school VW van painted blue with flowers, for he and his Flower (Melanie), and a truck that Rich was rebuilding from the ground up. He was excited to get it finished and take her for a spin. It was cherry red. Painted by none other than himself. He never got to experience the joy of taking that sweet ride. He never will. That truck, VW van, garage, house...it is all gone. Lost to a horrendous fire . The van is now sitting on top of a scrap pile. The scrap from the fire paid enough to have a construction dumpster brought out. The remnants of the house are being piled in that construction dumpster. He lost everything that he and Me...

Sunday marks one week since the fire at Wood-B-Ranch in Reddick, Fl that completely engulfed Rich and Melanie's home. They lost everything, as you can read and see here . Everyone made it out alive and unharmed, except a beloved dog, Abby. The heartache is still unbearable as we continue to dig through the rubble, but there is still so much hope. They have learned that the walls of the home are reusable, and Rich and Melanie are determined to rebuild. It was their home . It is their home . And they will have it again . I have heard talk of floor plans and things that they are going to do differently this time around, and that is exciting! As exciting as that is, they will need help financially. They were self insured, but they never imagined that this would happen, and their savings won't cover the repairs and rebuild. They had no homeowners insurance . They won't get a payout for this. Right now though, the main concern is getting everything cleaned o...

I'm sure you all are thinking just like I did. You assume that Rich and Melanie have insurance that is going to cut them a big fat check.   I wish that I could tell you that was true. I really do.   They had no insurance.   They had what they called self-insured insurance.  Meaning that the house and it's belongings were all paid for, and there was a little money set aside in case any repairs needed to made. But there is not enough self-insurance money for anything catastrophic like this. No one...ever expects this to be them.   There is no big payout. No check. No insurance.   The car insurance does not cover the vehicles that have been lost because it falls under homeowners...which they do not have.   That is why we are desperate to get money together for the Atens. If you have a little to spare, please visit the gofundme  account set up by Anita and donate. It is beyond appreciated.   Share their story. ...

I usually try to keep my blog positive and uplifting, but not this time. On Saturday, January 31st at around 10 am we received a picture of a house on fire from Richard Aten, Dustin's uncle. It took us a minute to determine if it was their house, or someone else's...as we just could not believe what we saw. It was their home . Their home was engulfed in flames. The fire originated in the garage, sometime early in the morning and spread quickly through the whole house. The home is a total loss. Rich, his wife Melanie, their son Alex, and two of their dogs made it out. Abby , a very beloved pet of many years, was not so fortunate. Not much in the home is salvageable, but we are digging. Every little thing that is found, is a little beacon of light, in what seems to be an impossibly dark tunnel. Our family has never experienced anything close to this, and we are heartbroken. But even through the heartbreak and devastation, life must go on. They have laid sweet Abby ...