Brian Maloy

Family, Friends, Neighbors, Community — 

From the most sincere place in our hearts, thank you. 

We are coming to realize that the last weeks since the fire, we’ve been living in a fog. There have been lots of emotions, exhaustion, a constant state of feeling overwhelmed, and probably a good bit of shock. Nevertheless, so many of you have been a balm to our souls. You have checked on us, given generous gifts, prayed for us… there is no way to express the gratitude we have experienced because of you all. So, I’ll say it again, although it feels too simple — thank you. 

Quick update, some of these we’ve shared on Facebook, via email, or in-person  — so forgive me if it’s repeat info, I just know many folks have missed this all together (and have been asking).

> After the fire, we spent a couple weeks at Grandma’s house getting essentials gathered, and trying to gather our own wits.

> We were fortunate enough to find a rental around the corner from Grandma’s house, and right across the street from our church — which is kinda neat! Lots of space to explore and play, huge pond, field, and woods. It’s a little strange, because it’s like living in a large hotel, but it’s slowly becoming “settled”, and since it’s 3 stories, we are getting all our steps in!

> We’re hoping to move home by Christmas 2025, the house will eventually be brought down to the foundation, and completely rebuilt. So, in the grief of losing everything you’ve worked hard to rehab for a decade, and the memories of our family growing there, we do have the blessing of going home to an entirely new home — weird, but a blessing in the midst of sadness. 

> I have worked hard to get all our finances in order so I can keep it all organized during the next year, it’s been a little overwhelming — but it’s close to organized and caught up for now. 

> Next step is working through the inventory… we are not particularly excited about it, but we’re probably 30% done. That will be a load off when we can close the book on cataloging every earthy procession we had, before being thrown into a dumpster. Again, it’s just stuff — but weird feelings of course.

> After we say goodbye to our house, we’ll work with the architect to update and redesign the house, we’re hoping to keep it as close as we can to before, with a few tweaks. It’ll feel more like going home if it’s familiar and similar.

> The kids have handled this much better than they could have. Often when they remember a toy or treasure is lost, they will lament a bit, and then say, it’s okay, God is good. That said, their emotions are hard, you can tell they are right under the surface, and wrestling how to handle it. We have gone for a lot of walks, and had good family conversations to talk it through some.

> The biggest loss is Sophie, our sweet nearly 4 year old Australian Shepherd. I have and am walking my own grief, she was truly part of our family, going everywhere with us. But the kids especially have struggled with the loss of our beloved family member. Every day they have prayed for Sophie, and talked about their sadness, but thankfulness that she is always in our hearts, and she only knew love from her pack. But there is no way to sugarcoat it, that part is hard for our family. We loved Sophie greatly, and if we loved her greatly, then it’s okay to mourn her greatly. 

> I am on my second book, reading about grief and loss, and the author had a great point in processing his loss, and people asking how he was. That yes, we are indeed okay, but it depends on the hour, maybe even half hour. Emotions hit you at different times, unexpectedly. So, depending on when you ask, perhaps we are good, but we may also be struggling and overwhelmed — just depends. But regardless, we hold fast to God’s goodness — even when it doesn’t make sense. 

Thank you for loving us, praying, checking on us, encouraging — it is the support and care we’ve needed in this season. It will be a long year, but — beauty will come from ashes, and we are thankful for that hope.