I am 25, and I recently lost my grandma and great-aunt in a house fire. They died of smoke inhalation. The firemen found my great-aunt on the front steps, and my grandma lying just a few feet from the front door. I was talking to my grandma on the phone that night maybe an hour before the fire happened. It was a normal conversation, and then I got a Facebook message from a family friend that her mother had died (I used to sit with her mom some as her mom was sick) and asking me to come over. I told my grandma that I had to go, and then we got off the phone. I could never have imagined that I would never speak to her again. While I was at my family friend's house, and we were waiting on the coroner, my step-dad came over and said that my grandma and my great-aunt's house had burned down, and that they were at the hospital but the hospital wasn't releasing their condition. He told me to go home and my get my mom and the boys, as he was heading straight down. While I was getting my mom, he called and told us that they had both died. It's so awful.
I was really close to my grandmother. My mom and I lived with her from the time I was born until I was about 11 or so. Then my mom married my step-dad, and my grandma moved in with my great-aunt. We then lived in a house where our backyard lined up with their backyard. We moved from that house about 2 years ago, but I would still do my grandma's grocery shopping, take her to Dr.'s appointments, and also go to her house in-between classes if I had a long break since she lived close to my school.
I just can't believe that this happened. It was on the news, and I can't believe that it was really them that this happened to. It's just such an awful way to die. I also don't understand why they couldn't make it out of the house in time. They were so close to getting out. They didn't have any mobility issues although the news reported that that was why they couldn't make it out. My grandma wasn't even 70 yet. It's horrible. People always say clichés like "Here Today - Gone Tomorrow" and while you know they are true, you just don't realize how true it is until something like this happens. I was talking to her one minute, and then she was gone the next. We used to go over to my great-aunt's every Christmas when I was a kid, and I just keep thinking about all those times and we never knew what was going to end up happening there, and how awful it would be. My poor grandma and great-aunt.
I keep going from feeling completely devastated to feeling numb like it didn't really happen. When we first got the news, it was unbearable agony and I felt like I would never be happy again. Thankfully, it's not quite as bad as that now. I just don't know that I will ever be over this though. I feel like they are just going to show back up at any time and my grandma will tell us all about what happened. Logically, I know that's not true though. I just wish I got the chance to tell her how much I loved her before it happened.
One of the worst parts, is that nothing will ever change what happened. Has anybody ever experienced anything similar?