Worst Day of My Life

Yesterday has to rank as one of the worst days of my life.

First, I want to preface that my experience yesterday does not compare to a death in the family, divorce, a sick child, miscarriage or terminal illness. Those are tragedies. Those are painful experiences that span long time frames.

While what happened yesterday was challenging and emotional, it was not a tragedy. It’s something that we will overcome.

Tuesday night, I welcomed the pitter-patter of the rain and I reflected on the peace and quiet of our home. My husband was traveling for work, so I was alone in bed. My mom was asleep on the couch; she was helping out since Dean was away for the week. Baby Franco was being so good, sleeping through the night alone in the nursery.

At 4:30am, Franco woke up. When I opened the door to the nursery, he propped his head up and flashed a big grin. I took one step up to enter his room and dipped into a pool of water. The nursery and the adjacent bathroom were covered in half an inch of water.

“Oh God! My baby!” I screamed as I waded my way over to Franco’s smiling face. His crib was a protected island in a room that had flooded. I scooped him up and kept muttering, “Oh my baby. My poor baby.” Thankfully he was ok, but I was in shock.

My mom who is paranoid by nature made me even more emotional. She scolded, “This is why I told you Franco needs to sleep in your room. I knew having him on the other side of the house was a bad idea. Can you imagine if we found him this morning underwater?!”

“Mom! You are not helping.” I cried as I held Franco in my arms. I asked my mom to hold Franco while I made phone calls.

Luckily Dean is in Boston this week. I knew I could reach him with the time difference. He was very calm, probably because he couldn’t see the extent of the damage!

Next up, I made a handful of calls to plumbers. I got through to someone who came over at 6am. If you’re in San Francisco, call Fast Response. They are the best! The plumber said it wasn’t a plumbing issue. He placed a call on my behalf to a water damage recovery company. In addition, I made more calls to other repair companies. Because the rain was so bad Tuesday night, plumbers and the water recovery companies were booked solid.

Someone finally did come to suck the water out. A dehumidifier is running 24/7. The rooms are a wreck and unlivable. The hardwood floors are unsalvageable. Apparently the walls need to be opened up and dried. We are at high risk of a mold problem.

Earlier in the morning, I also sent a frantic text to my real estate agent. “Help! Two rooms in our home are flooded. Isn’t the remodel work guaranteed?” I was alluding to our property being a brand new remodel when we purchased it.

He called me later on in the day, “I don’t know if this will make you feel better but three other clients had flooding in their home.”

We are going to work with the seller and the contractor who did the work to assess the damage and see what can be done. That’s where we’re at. Our home is a disaster, but everyone is safe which is all that matters.

I am so very thankful to live near family. My dad drove over immediately. My parents spent all morning trying to mop up as much water as possible, dealing with the different contractors, then laundering about 100 towels! They deserve a medal for handling everything, allowing me to come into the office to work, and urging Dean to stay in Boston to finish out his work week. He would have otherwise high-tailed it home.

I was a mess yesterday, but trying to take deep breaths. I’m grateful as it seems like all the parties involved (real estate, insurance, contractors) are trying to help.