I did not have any plans for my birthday. What I did is go to my relatives and bought ice cream for everyone, just to celebrate the day. I was able to take new photos of the place. You can view it on my Flickr account for more fire. My cousin, Roan, who suffered from burns, seems to be feeling better, or at least her spirits are up. A lot of people lend their hand to give us their utmost support and help.

I am deeply in awe how the people that I seldom interact with in real life went out of their way to help us. Pao and Michael were so generous to give us some financial help. Michael is just an online contact in my Multiply account. Pao also offered to give the little kids something after the Holidays. My heart cannot contain the joy of having these people give what they can and more, just to help other people.

A lot of my mother’s friends sent donations of food, clothes, shoes and household items. We were able to give our relatives something to help them start over. As of now, they don’t have a permanent place to stay. My grandmother and my cousin, Raymond, is with my aunt. My other aunt and her kids and families are staying with their relatives on their father side of the family. Of course, it’s just temporary. I believe my dad and his brothers and sisters are working something out. Like, what they would do with the property, if they would sell it or rebuild a new home. I do want them tor rebuild it, because my grandmother loves that place. My grandmother needs a new recliner because hers was lost in the fire. She would usually sit in the veranda during her afternoon naps in her recliner.

Here are some pictures:

• My mom giving away ice cream.
• My cousins, the one on the left was the one who got 2nd degree burns. She still manages to smile.

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I have been thinking about how I should celebrate my birthday, but now, I know what to do. I will just hear mass and pray really hard for my family and relatives. Today, at around 3:30pm, the house that I grew up in, my grandmother’s house, my aunt and uncle’s houses were engulfed by fire. Everything was gone in a span of seconds. My relatives weren’t able to salvage anything from their personal belongings except the clothes on their back. I received the news while I was at my internship. My first thought was my grandmother, if she’s OK, because if anything happened to her, it will truly crush me. The news felt unreal, my hands became so cold and I couldn’t distinguish the emotion that I was feeling. I thought I was just having a bad dream, that maybe my sister’s text message was just a figment of my imagination because I was bored at work. My mom sent a follow up message, and that made it real. My heart felt so heavy inside my chest. I was trying to compose myself and not cry, but I couldn’t help it. I told one of the heads in the office that I have to go to my grandmother’s house.

My mom told me that she just arrived at my grandmother’s place and she’s at the hospital. She’s safe, but she’s been sick since yesterday and because of this ordeal, she just felt sicker and needed to be rushed to the hospital. My 7-year-old cousin, Roan, received second degree burns on her arms, and parts of her legs and feet. She was sleeping next to the room where the fire started.

Apparently, the fire started in the vacant bedroom next to my grandma’s. The house is old and was built from wood. The investigators think that the fire is due to faulty wiring, which is a possibility. It is really unfortunate that this happened 7 days before Christmas. I really feel sorry for the kids because my cousin said they just bought new clothes and shoes for Christmas, and now, they’re all gone. Even my cousin’s Yorkshire Terrier, Twinkle, died..

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