Burning Down the House

Dear friends. As you probably have heard, my house burned down on September 7, 2010. Everyone got out of the house safely. The house is a total loss. My insurance coverage is not enough to replace all that I had, but it is quite sufficient to replace all that I need.

I already have more than enough clothes. I bought a few things and then a surprising number were saved. I already have more than will fit in my new suitcase.

I have a place to stay. I am staying with close friends and/or family and should have a fully furnished place of my own within a week, or two, at the outside. If I get tired of my friends and family loving me too much, the insurance company will rent me and Thor a hotel room (Thor's kitty could stay there too, but he's at a cousin's house and has never had so much love and affection).

I am sad about certain things I have lost, but in many ways it is freeing to be able to once again get all of my belongings into a car (or, maybe a VW bus).

I am overwhelmed by the offers of help that I have received from family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and a bunch of people whom I don't even know. The Red Cross gave me a Mastercard with $180 on it before the fire was really even out. Again, I do have insurance and think that it will provide me with more than I need (I wanted to get rid of some stuff anyway!). Donations to the Red Cross would be a wonderful way to support other people who find themselves in my position and need the help. If, in spite of my needs being met, you would like to give me a gift to show your support, I will gratefully accept a gift of money to replace the instruments that I lost. If you are part of a group that I'm affiliated with, I will pool money from members of your group to buy a guitar that will remind me of your kindness for, I hope, a long time to come.

I may need other kinds of help sometime in the future, but now, I'm safe, and have what I need. I even have the guitar that was hanging on the wall in my bedroom. It smells a little smoky, but with new strings, it sounds better than it did last weekend.

I will try to keep updates posted to Facebook and, I think, on http://relaxpc.com/ . In addition, I have asked a group of friends to help coordinate things that I need. You probably know at least one of them. If you have specific things that you think I might need (and really, I don't need any clothes!), you might run the idea by one of these people. I am having a hard time keeping up with the flurry of messages that I'm getting and cannot always respond as quickly as I would like.

Katie Allison Granju
Jean Galyon
Taylor Martin
Annette L. Kinderman
Allison Anders
Debra Lee 615-294-0324

My paypal account is pfaffman@relaxpc.com. Here is my office address:

Jay Pfaffman
EPC/Claxton 442
1122 Volunteer Blvd
Knoxville TN, 37917

Thanks again. I'll choose to think of this experience as an opportunity!