Comments on: What would you save?

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 20:44:53 +0000

This is such an interesting question, as this kind of thing has been playing on the national consciousness to some degree in the UK following a horrendous fire in a west London tower block in which many people died and hundreds lost their homes, and has been in the news for the last month. We ask ourselves ‘What would I save?’ and are appalled when we see footage of homes devastated by these kinds of disasters. The answer is always people. Most things are replaceable, even if losing items such as photos and the memories attached to them is too awful to contemplate. But in the Grenfell Tower tragedy, people only went back for their friends and family.

By: Monica

Monica — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 16:14:11 +0000

In reply to beth. That was my main takeaway too, about the neighbors. One side has our phone numbers but that's about it. When we moved to our new home three years ago, I kept picturing folks coming over to introduce themselves with casseroles in hand, but that really didn't happen and after living here for a while it just seems kind of awkward to go over and introduce yourself, or maybe that's just me.

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 12:14:42 +0000

In reply to Stijn Vogels. @Stijn - I should probably look into something like this. Also, all this is reminding me that I need to back up my photos too!

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 12:13:24 +0000

In reply to Ruth.

@Ruth – yes, that’s the twist on this question of what you’d save in a fire. It’s not you — you have to know where something is well enough to describe it to someone else to get it out quickly!

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 12:11:38 +0000

In reply to Barb.

@Barb – they wound up tearing the house down shortly thereafter — too much damage. So a new spot would need to be found regardless!

By: beth

beth — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 11:55:36 +0000

I realized a different problem with this scenario. We are not particularly close with our neighbors and none of them have our cell numbers or email addresses. If our house burns down on vacation no one would ever be able to get in contact with us! Perhaps I need to develop a closer relationship with my neighbors…

By: Stijn Vogels

Stijn Vogels — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 08:03:20 +0000

My journals as well. I keep them in an aluminium coffer which my father wasn’t using. Should there ever be an emergency, I can just walk out with them. There is no lock on the suitcase, so burglars can see there’s nothing of resale value in them. But for myself it’s comforting to know I have this risk covered.

By: Barb

Barb — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 03:35:51 +0000

The thumb drive with all the accounts. But then we’d have to reveal its hiding place, and find a new secret spot for it.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:30:27 +0000

Wow. What to keep. OLD family photos – I mean the REALLY old ones – my parents as kids, etc. A project I intend to start early next year is to scan all our old family photos and make Shutterfly books with them. In conjunction with that, work on the family tree, too. I want to be able to put faces with the names and names with the faces!

But if I had to tell someone to go into my house and rescue pictures, some (my parents in the 1930s) are on the wall in one of the bedrooms, and the rest are in boxes in my home office. I think I could describe them adequately, but would there be enough time? Something to ponder.