Help my mom and stepfather clean up and rebuild their home

It’s somewhat of a nightmare. They are waiting for the insurance company to give the okay to tear down what’s left of the old house. They are living with my stepfather’s father. Not a lot of room or privacy there. They are looking for an inexpensive camper to possibly live in for the summer. Meanwhile, though, their attitudes are good and they have a lot of support from others.

Yesterday my daughter and I made the hour trek to my mother’s house. I am really glad we went. They were feeling discouraged and had given up on getting anything done for the day. I got them moving. We ended up cleaning Christmas decorations and repackaging what was salvageable, throwing what was not. It was a cool yet sunny day, so we spread things out to dry in the driveway. It was a relief to see many cherished items were saved. What an oddly satisfying way to spend the afternoon.

On Tuesday we did about 20 loads of laundry at the laundromat. We were able to save quite a few of their things, but many, many items were just beyond salvage. We bleached what we could and used dishwasher detergent on everything else because the smell was horrible. Most of the stuff was soaking wet and heavy. And there were large pieces of charred wood, plastic, etc. mixed in with everything. It was like the remnants of some bizarre ritual.