Everyone goes through bad times.

Bad things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.

Bad things happen to everyone. That’s how life works. But as depressing as that sounds, don’t freak out, because there are always going to be good things too.

I had an amazing childhood. My parents gave my brother and I all the love and support any child could ever ask for. Now, along with love and support, we got some pretty badass toys, vacations, and some of the best memories. The majority of those best memories came from my childhood home. It was a beautiful house and even now when I think of it, I can only evoke the most fondest memories. However, every story has a downside.

It was spring of 2012, and this would mark the worst day of my life.

It was a Sunday morning, and my family had dinner plans with my relatives to congratulate my cousin on his graduation.

I, for some reason, thought it was a fantastic idea to watch Marley and Me a couple hours before while lying in bed with my dog.

Yes, I cried. I cried a lot. I don’t know about you, but when I cry my eyes tend to get a little swollen.

Ah, and I should also mention that I am extremely allergic to dog fur.

So, dog fur plus crying is a terrible combination, and to make matter worse, I fell asleep afterward.

I woke up about three hours later, and I felt a little off. I walked into the kitchen to grab some water and ask my mother when we were planning on leaving. Before I could say anything, my cousins, who were conversing in the kitchen, jumped back about 10 feet and looked at me mortified. My face had swollen up so much. It was a horrifying site. I was the epitome of ugly. Not only was the dinner in 2 hours, I had to spend the next 15 minutes listening to back-and-forth comments between my two cousins about how much I resembled a mixture of Frankenstein and the Elephant Man.

Fortunately, after about one hour and copious amounts of Benadryl, my face was presentable enough to leave the house.

It was a fantastic dinner and I had a great time with my family. We left the restaurant late and got home around 10:00 p.m. and this is when things just went downhill.

I got into bed and tried to push the day behind me.

I guess you could say that I took one last look at my childhood room, the way it was, the way it looked, even the way it smelled.

I turned my lights off and tried to fall asleep, but something was suffocating me. It suddenly became impossible to breathe and I was so scared. I got up and reached for my lamp, and I flicked the switch and it was still dark. Why was it still dark? I looked up, and I saw the problem. Black smoke was pouring through the vents. It was so black and heinous that it mimicked darkness itself. I ran out of my room only to find my brother in the corridor with the same look of confusion. We ran to the living room to find our parents fast asleep on the couch with the dogs after finishing a movie, untouched by the smoke. We shake them awake and began to look for the source. My father began to assure us that it was probably just a malfunction in the vents with the heater. He sent me to go open the room doors and to go get the cats out of the master bedroom to ventilate the house. I grabbed a towel to cover my mouth and ran down to the other side of the house through the black smoke to the master bedroom. As soon as I opened the door the cats shot out running as fast as they could as if they were running from a monster. And then almost instantly, an explosion of heat hit me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My parent’s room was completely engulfed by flames. The heat from the smoke was unimaginable. I ran back to the living room and couldn’t even speak, I could only shout the words, “Fire! Fire!” We called 911, tried our best to put out the flames, but it was hopeless.

I lost a lot of things that day. I lost my belongings, my room, my pets, and my home.

Before the next school year started, I moved into a new house. I spent most of the summer grieving and doleful. My parents pushed me to keep my chin up and to think of everything as a part of my journey through life.

The house we moved into is the house I live in now, and even though nothing can compare to my old house, this one has definitely become a place that I can call home. This house has allowed me to experience new things and meet new people. I also discovered that I moved into my best friend’s neighborhood and unfortunately, the crazy girl and I have become inseparable ever since. I’m not kidding, she never leaves me alone.

Bad things happen, but good things will follow. Whatever seems bad and hopeless, give it time. It is only temporary.