Something unexpected happened in the summer of my eleventh year. The home I had grown up in burned to the ground in the middle of the night. Thankfully, my mom, dad, grandma, brothers and I escaped along with my dogs. Yet, we had nothing but the night clothes we were sleeping in. I spent the rest of that night with a friend of my family. I tried unsuccessfully to sleep in the bed in his house. I was too scared.
The next day my mom brought me a few T-shirts and pairs of jeans that another friend gave to her. One pair of them was too short and the other pair was too long, but I didn't care. At least I had some clothes again. My dad returned to our broken home to see what he could find. The only thing he could save was my mom's rings.
To spend the summery dad rented us a big house on the same road as our old house had been. As we moved in, our friends and our community continued to donate (捐赠) all they could to help us to get back on our feet. There were more clothes, furniture, food money, and even some books for me to read. Love was around us.
Looking back now I am thankful for all we went through that summer because it taught me so much about life, love and people. It showed me that when you have nothing left but love, for the first time you see that love is enough.