Fire!!!

On Thursday my apartment caught fire. It could have been a lot worse but it's still pretty bad. Livin' at the ol' mother-in laws place until we land back on our feet. Among the other stuff my gi has now gone from pearl white (with the occasional scuff) to soot black. It's bad but I think I can salvage it. The belt is also covered in soot...I guess my question is...does this make me a black belt now??? You just got to go with life; she'll change on you in an instant and you better hold on!!

Sorry to hear that Jess, good luck with getting all back in order again.

Wow - unfortunate that your appartment caught fire (but fortunate you are alive!). I think there is something in the human brain that hates to think that events just happen and sometimes its just unfortunate. You are taking it really well! We always want to explain things and beat ourselves up about stuff to no avail. Reminds me of a story in the Lieh Tzu where a merchant is travelling through bandit country and gets robbed by some bandits. He puts up a really good fight which results in him getting killed by them. His brother, also a merchant, is travelling through the same area some time later. His father told him, if he gets attacked, to let them have everything and escape - using his brother as an example of what happens if you fight. This brother also gets robbed, and follows his fathers advice, letting them have everything. However, realising that he may alert the police in the neighbouring town if the bandits let him escape, they catch him and kill him.

Empathy and compassion.

Yes, enter and blend with life.

Now wash the go and get back to training. ;-)

So sorry.
Sounds like you are keeping your sense of humor though. That's important. You live to train again!

Jess McDonald wrote: On Thursday my apartment caught fire. It could have been a lot worse but it's still pretty bad. Livin' at the ol' mother-in laws place until we land back on our feet. Among the other stuff my gi has now gone from pearl white (with the occasional scuff) to soot black. It's bad but I think I can salvage it. The belt is also covered in soot...I guess my question is...does this make me a black belt now??? You just got to go with life; she'll change on you in an instant and you better hold on!!

That is really awful, glad everyone is OK.

You should use this as motivation to create a flame resistant gi!



Justin

Glad no one got hurt, sorry about your apartment and that!

good to see you're alive and well

Jess, glad you are ok--the rest is "stuff" :-)

Jess McDonald wrote: On Thursday my apartment caught fire. It could have been a lot worse but it's still pretty bad. Livin' at the ol' mother-in laws place until we land back on our feet. Among the other stuff my gi has now gone from pearl white (with the occasional scuff) to soot black. It's bad but I think I can salvage it. The belt is also covered in soot...I guess my question is...does this make me a black belt now??? You just got to go with life; she'll change on you in an instant and you better hold on!!

I'm glad to see that you're using a lot of smilies in your post! Be adaptive, and stay happy.

what an incredible black belt test! And you passed? It is completely possible that the 43 gods of aikido promoted you to shodan.

In gassho,
Mark

Wow, you got flamed and wasn't even rude to any one on AikiWeb.

Seriously, glad no one was hurt, hope you had insurance and hope you get along well with the in-laws in this stressful time.

I wish you well !

Thanks guys!! Everything is pulling together. I washed the gi several times and seems to be just fine (aside from a few scuffs that give it character)!! Thanks again for all your support!