One of my little sisters, Vanessa, moved into her first real place just a few months ago. Unfortunately, on Sunday night, their house burned down.

From what I understand, the breaker had gone off but she couldn’t get it to stay reset. She said it smelled funny and “electrical”, and feeling rather silly and paranoid, she grabbed her kitten and laptop and took them out to her car.
When she came inside, she could smell smoke. Still feeling silly, she called 911. As she was on the phone with the dispatcher, the ceiling burst into flames.

Luckily, everyone survived (including the kitten!) but the house was a total loss.

Here’s why she deserves the Sister Of The Year Award: in the midst of the chaos, she asked a firefighter to go in the house and save my ukulele- one I borrowed her at Christmas until she could save up for her own.

I highly doubt I would have had the foresight to do such a thing. I’m a little stunned and somehow it makes me feel worse. Obviously the ukulele isn’t the important thing here, but the fact that my (very selfless) sister and her roommates are all okay.

The morals of the story are these:
-Make sure you test your smoke alarms frequently and replace the batteries regularly!
- Trust your instincts! It’s better to feel silly and paranoid than to lose your cat (or worse) in a fire!