When I was about 4 years old, my parents and I lived in a large brick apartment house in Portland, Oregon. I have only vague memories of our stay in this place. There was one tearful Sunday morning for me when the newspaper had no funny paper section. I had a bout with the measles. A huge spider was discovered in the corner of the bathroom, which frightened my mother much more than it did me. Her panic was a surprise for me, who thought until that moment that all grown-ups were always brave. Papa captured it in a towel and bore it outside, proving there was one grown-up who could cope.
 

PAINTING OF ANGUS LOST IN FIRE

    One night our pleasant life was suddenly disrupted by a real disaster. A little after midnight my father was awakened by the smel1 of smoke. He jumped out of bed and went out into the hallway, where the smell was much stronger. Uneasy, he walked down the hall. The smell was becoming more pungent and acrid. He laid his hand against a wall. It was hot to the touch. He raced to the manager's apartment and told him to call the fire department. No flames were visible yet, but he knew the building was on Fire! Then he rushed back to our rooms and ordered us up. I remember he said "There's a fire in the building! Just take your bathrobes and slippers! Anna, take your purse and I'll get my money! No time for packing! I'll go rouse the other tenants! Just go down the stairs quickly and out to the street!" As he ran out of the room, he called back "The walls are already hot!"
    We moved fast, making our last trip down that gracefully winding staircase. As we went, my mother reached out her hand and pressed it against the wall. I did the same. Very hot!
    By now everyone was hurrying pell-mell down the stairs and out the front door and across the street. We stood in a huddled crowd, watching the building; probably about 30 of us, shivering and gasping with shock.
    Still no flames visible. Then I saw my father, the last person to come running out. In the middle of the street he turned as, with a huge roaring sound, the entire building burst into flames like a great fireball!
    Down the street came the fire engines! There being no buildings on either side of the inferno, they climbed down to join us to watch the blaze gradually subsiding.
    Someone said, "Lie a quick look at Hell!"
    Someone else called out, "So what do we do now?"
    And another, "I just feel lucky to be standing here alive!"
    Something moved me to call out as loud as I could, "Papa smelled the smoke! He felt the walls and they were hot!"
    Then voices rose around me. "He told us the building was on fire!" "He said to grab our robes and slippers and money and run outside!" "How did he get around to everyone?" "He told me one time he was a light sleeper." "Lucky for us!"
    So there we all stood, huddled together in the cold, not knowing what to do.
    "It's only 2:00!"
    "We can't just stand here freezing!" "Whadda we do?" "Where can we go?"
    By then people had come running out of their houses in response to the noise of the sirens, the exploding blast of the building bursting in flames and then the voices of our derelict, shivering group. Those people joined us.
    One said, "We can take two of you or maybe 3."
    Another: "We have extra beds. You'd be welcome to stay with us."
    One on the outskirts of the crowd called out, raising his hand, "Hey, two of you follow me."
    Somehow, and with great good will, our neighbors, most of them unknown to us, gathered us up in twos and. threes and took us al1 into their homes.
    I was bedded down with the older daughter of one family. It felt very strange, but she pulled up the blankets around us both and gave me a welcome smile.
    "Now, little girl," she whispered. "I have to get up in a few hours to go to work, so you be very quiet so I can get my sleep. And when I leave, you just go on sleeping. Good night."
    "Good night," I whispered back, "And thanks!"
    That night I learned about a kind of disaster: Fire. I learned how quick, determined action can save lives. And most important: I had my first encounter with the warmth of unconditional love!