Crashing the Home

 Things happen, and that's life.   However, yesterday an unprecedented thing occurred at the house that really caused a bit of a shift, even in a literal sense.  Let me tell the story.

Yesterday was a normal Monday - we ate an early dinner, and I had a class project to work on while Barbara was working from home.  At around 4 PM, there was a huge crash that rocked the house.  Thinking something crashed, I came out of my room exclaiming "what the hell was that??"  Barbara then said, "Something just hit the house!"  When she looked out the window, she saw a small gold sedan driving off, and the neighbors were gathering.  When we went to go outside, we noticed the foyer floor had partially collapsed, and that the front door was a bit challenging to open.  Upon opening the door, we were both shocked to see a huge hole where the basement windows used to be, and Barbara's car was cracked up as it had been pushed into a neighbor's car.  A couple of our neighbors, including a middle-aged eccentric White guy with close-cropped blonde hair who lives next door, pointed to the gold car parked around the corner and a cop parked in the middle of the street.  This is where it got interesting. 

Upon stepping out, there was quite a crowd on our normally quiet street, and as crazy as it sounds, at about the same time the car hit our house, a cop was turning onto our street - that was providential, in all honesty.  Turns out the driver was possibly under the influence of something - both fentanyl and crack are epidemic in this area of the city - and he tried to give a flimsy excuse about his foot getting stuck under his brake pedal.  When I talked to one of the cops later - a young guy who was very pleasant and also ready to assist - he suspected the same thing, although he didn't say it on record because understandably he couldn't without proof.  Many of our neighbors had a similar thought about it, and one - an older Black lady named Mary who lives a couple of doors up - caught everything on her doorbell cam. She gladly shared it with our landlord, Andy, as well as with the cops.  Later, when Barbara called the police precinct to get a copy of the police report for her insurance, she was told by a person there that the car was registered to a woman, yet a man was driving.  During the time of the incident though, we had a couple of cops, several firemen, some workers from the BGE (the Baltimore city gas and electric office), and a building inspector immediately getting to work securing the front of the house. The BGE guys thankfully stuck around all night, and this morning they managed to clean up the mess in no time and secured the front of the house for our safety.  The gas line was turned off, and probably that was for the best as it could have been a potential hazard for our whole block. As of now, we still don't have the gas back on yet, but that will probably happen in the next day or so.  The past 29 hours though were perhaps the most intense we have had in a while. 

The building inspector, a down-to-earth guy whose name I believe was Drake, gave the all-clear for us to stay in the house.  He noted that although the car had hit the house with some force, the infrastructure of the house was not compromised and he said no immediate concern was evident.  However, he did recommend that perhaps some work would need to be done on the front exterior wall at some point, and our landlord has his property insurance appraiser coming to assess what has to be done and he will take care of that - thank God for Andy, our landlord!  Andy is a great guy, and compared to our previous place, he is a real blessing.  I will talk more about that in a few moments.

These are photos of the damage to the front of our home

The building inspector took me on a walking tour to see the damage prior to Andy arriving, and he explained in detail what happened as far as the damage.  While for a time I was thinking Baltimore had a sloppy infrastructure, the workers that responded to our situation helped restore faith that there were dedicated public servants still in this city.  The level of professionalism shown by all who responded, as well as the really strong support of our neighbors, really touched me and I have to say I appreciated them all.  And, it also alleviated a lot of potential stress. 

The following day, Andy our landlord came to take care of his aspect of the business, and he did us a huge service by cleaning out some junk that was left out there by a previous housemate who lived here, and he was also very excited about some of the things we are doing to improve the place, such as renovating the steps and organizing the kitchen with new shelving and a few things.  For the first time in a long time, I am feeling like this place is becoming a home. In some aspects, the incident of the car crashing into the front of the house may have been providential in itself, although it still does not excuse the intoxicated fool who did it - he will get his in due time as well.  

I know that this place where we live now is not a forever home - not even close in all honesty.  I think our landlord Andy understands that too, but he is working with us and I think for the first time in a while we can make this work.  It is a place for recovery, opening a new chapter in life, and getting life back on track.  I am starting to rebuild a lot too, and with a renewed teaching contract at the high school I work at, things are looking promising for the first time in a long time.  There are still challenges, and I have even had a few attacks on my work, but God brought me here for a reason so that is what matters when it is all said and done.

I am still not completely sure about a lot of things, but I am in a better place than I was just 10 months ago.  Even a catastrophe such as a car crashing into the front of the house can be turned into a good thing, and there is a lesson in this. What we often see as a tragedy, God sees as an opportunity.  The craziness of the past year, for instance, has led to some good things.  It is therefore still true, the old axiom that "when life hands you lemons you make lemonade."  And, while the recipe is not complete yet, the lemonade in the end will be sweeter.  Thanks for letting me share this week.