Rebuilding Rob

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

What are 3 things you would save from a house fire, assuming all people, pets, documents, and important electronics are saved?

Family photos

Back in 2002, Robin Williams stared in a movie called One Hour Photo. He plays Seymour Parrish, mentally unstable film developer who develops an obsession the Yorkin family – one of his regular customers at the photo shop. The movie turns into a thriller when Parrish’s obsession grows to extreme measures.

I bring the movie up because it opens with a monologue where a monologue from Seymour explaining how important photographs are to people . He explains how most people say that if they could only remove one thing in the event of a house fire, it would be the family photos. It’s not something you really think about every day, but I believe it to be almost universally true

My kids toys

If there was a fire, I wouldn’t want Kid 2, or even kid 1 for that matter, to feel like they lost everything. I would want them to be able to take their own personal belongings out of a fire. I know a few people who’ve experienced house fires and the thought of losing absolutely everything you own, let alone your home, would be my worst nightmare. I don’t want my kids to feel like they are without. 

I have stories about police officers who will have extra stuffed animals/plushies (as they call them now) in the trunk of their squad car. They do this so that if they get to the scene of a fire or some other terrible crime, they can give a plushy to a kid, in the same event that they’ve lost everything. I think that’s a wonderful amount of kindness for a young person who’s probably experiencing the absolute worst moment of their entire life.

Baseball memorabilia

I admitted this one is totally selfish and totally materialistic. But more than a comic book collection, more than my dad‘s baseball card collection, The one thing that I would want to see would probably be some of the memorabilia that I’ve picked up at furious baseball stadiums over the years. I know I talk a lot about the game, almost obsessively so. But lately it’s occurred to me just how much I associate the game of baseball with summer, good weather, and great memories.

In the aftermath of a tragedy like a house fire, I would want something tangible to hang onto. Something that would remind me of good times; something that will remind me of the world’s cyclical nature.

Assuming that all of your loved ones, pets and important documents are safe, what are three things that you would take out of your house in the event of a fire? 

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Acknowledge Me: The Simple Art of Being Seen
• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision

AI art courtesy of Chat GPT.

The article “Things I’d Recover From a Fire” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.