If These Walls Could Talk

  • Sunday, June 26, 2016
  • Jen Gienapp

It’s such a well-known phrase that I have used many times, most poignantly for me, when we sold our house in Chattanooga that we owned for 12 years, during the most formative time of our kids’ childhoods.

One can stand in an empty house, and practically hear the walls talking about memories, the good times and the bad ones.

But what if the 100-year old house has been completely burned on the inside, all contents either destroyed or damaged, and you’ve been renovating that house for the last 15 years?

All of that work gone, in a few hours.

Can the walls still talk, even if they’ve been torn down to the studs?

This happened to my sister, who lives in Astoria (Queens). She’s the mom of four, wife to a husband who works many hours, and is very good at what he does. She’s also very good at what she does.

They bought their house 15 years ago, and rehabbed it for years. My sister meticulously replaced wood work (many times dealing with settled floors, so there were no simple 45-degree angles), sanding floors, refinishing original woodwork, color scheming, painting, and hundreds of other things. She was a stay-at-home mom, and fit all of her hard work on the house around being the most attentive mom to her kids.

And then, one night in February, it went up in smoke.

Of course, we’re mostly thankful that no lives were lost, except for a much-loved kitty, who died of smoke inhalation.

But there are plenty of good things or “fire miracles” that keep being discovered, from that night:

- A stranger, who was driving by the night of the fire, heard screams from one of the children, stuck on the roof of their porch, and stopped to climb up to rescue her. Meanwhile, his wallet and phone were stolen from his car.

- FDNY firefighters, who bravely went into the house that night, and were so appreciative when home-baked apple pies were taken to them as a small token of thanks, and then handed out FDNY T-shirts to all, and let the younger kids climb up in their truck.

- A lemon tree plant that was thriving in the dining room, and even bearing fruit. It froze after the fire because there was no heat and looked doomed for months, until last week it shot out some new bright green sprigs.

- Another kitty, rescued by a firefighter who provides so much joy for the family.

- Things discovered, that should’ve burned or been destroyed by water or smoke, found relatively safe and somewhat salvageable. A wedding dress, a chandelier, a favorite painting by a friend.

- Countless relatives and neighbors who rallied around this family. In the first few hours after the fire was put out, friends and family raced into the house to grab what they could to save. Meals were prepared, clothes donated, and other things too much to recount.

But back to the walls.

As I walked around in the house last week, I looked at the 100-year-old wood studs that have now been painted to mask the smell of wood smoke, in preparation for new construction. I noticed the magnificent bannister, charred and not able to be salvaged.

I thought of all the work my sister had done for so many years.

I could see kids running up and down those stairs. I could see so many meals prepared in the now-gutted kitchen, and the homework done, dinners had, and games played in the dining room. I could see Christmases and family gatherings held in the living room. I could imagine books read, either out loud or silently by voracious readers in the upstairs bedrooms, and the stuffed animals, now gone, who were so well loved. I could see art being churned out in the attic. I could see kids laboring over homework, games being watched on t.v., music being played, sleepovers being hosted, intense conversations among friends, arguments among siblings, childhood accidents, and so much laughter as well as tears. 

So yes, the walls are still talking, even if they’re stripped down to the studs. It might take a while, but it’ll be a magnificent home once again.

And oh, what stories those walls will tell.

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