Up In Flames

Following a career spanning forty-one years in the healthcare field as a senior manager and a business owner, I was looking forward to enjoying a comfortable retirement. To me, retirement represented a peaceful, relaxing, stress-free lifestyle, and a welcome departure from the hectic, fast-paced business world. For the first several months, it was just that until tragedy struck and our lives were suddenly turned upside down. Nothing we had previously done or experienced prepared us for the misfortune of losing our home to a fire. And the task of rebuilding our house from the ground up was not on my bucket list. "Up In Flames" is a story of tragedy, loss, perseverance, resilience, love, family, friends, and community. It is the story of how we survived this catastrophic event and rebuilt our once beautiful home. Though I never thought I would begin my retirement by learning all about the real estate business, the insurance industry, or how to build a house. Numerous challenges, delays and frustrations were encountered along the way. And our story would not be complete if I didn't mention a few unexpected surprises including identity theft, a car crash, a lawsuit, and even an IRS audit.