Starting the day with a heart attack
My TV turns on at 6 AM every day, so I wake up to the news as opposed to some obnoxious alarm. Most days, this is no big deal. This morning, however, gave me a shock. There was a breaking news story--a fire in Chicago's Dunning neighborhood.
This is my old neighborhood, and where grandma lives. Hmm, wonder where this is.
The next line I heard was that the fire took place in a five-story apartment complex, on the fifth floor in a corner unit.
...Uh...grandma lives in such a building...on the fifth floor...next to the corner unit...
Yeah, that got me up and grabbing my glasses. To my relief, the fire was not in her building. It was on the next street over.
...Phew?
That was still way too close for comfort, and worse, the fire was fatal. The news was reporting that there were no sprinklers in the building to assist with the firefighting. I was trying to think when those buildings went up--the shopping center right there is about 30 years old now, and I know that the single-family houses down the block, where the road curves into a circle, were built during that time (as my friends and I trespassed into them, but that's another story), but I honestly can't recall if that set of apartments existed or not. It would be a number of years before we'd really go back to that neighborhood regularly, so everything else was built up in the meantime.
At least I know that grandma had an enjoyable day yesterday. My cousin and her family visited, and she took pictures of grandma and her kids, sent them to her dad, who then sent them to mom (and I forwarded them on to my phone). My uncle also mentioned that my cousin's husband was put to work on stuff there, so part of me is wondering if he installed those sofa lifts. We'll have to ask grandma when we call her on Sunday. But I'm so glad she's okay.
This is my old neighborhood, and where grandma lives. Hmm, wonder where this is.
The next line I heard was that the fire took place in a five-story apartment complex, on the fifth floor in a corner unit.
...Uh...grandma lives in such a building...on the fifth floor...next to the corner unit...
Yeah, that got me up and grabbing my glasses. To my relief, the fire was not in her building. It was on the next street over.
...Phew?
That was still way too close for comfort, and worse, the fire was fatal. The news was reporting that there were no sprinklers in the building to assist with the firefighting. I was trying to think when those buildings went up--the shopping center right there is about 30 years old now, and I know that the single-family houses down the block, where the road curves into a circle, were built during that time (as my friends and I trespassed into them, but that's another story), but I honestly can't recall if that set of apartments existed or not. It would be a number of years before we'd really go back to that neighborhood regularly, so everything else was built up in the meantime.
At least I know that grandma had an enjoyable day yesterday. My cousin and her family visited, and she took pictures of grandma and her kids, sent them to her dad, who then sent them to mom (and I forwarded them on to my phone). My uncle also mentioned that my cousin's husband was put to work on stuff there, so part of me is wondering if he installed those sofa lifts. We'll have to ask grandma when we call her on Sunday. But I'm so glad she's okay.