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My mom once asked my dad to hang a bookshelf, he said he couldn’t because he didn’t’ t have his trailer. It was a big family joke because he kept EVERYTHING in that trailer. He worked in it at the desk he kept in there when he came home a job or early in the morning before he left for the day. He took it to all his jobs and that’s where he kept not only his tools but took his lunch breaks. The hand painted “Rick Swanson Construction” blazed on the side and declared he was there and working.
On the morning of December 16, I got a call from my little sister letting me know that my dad’s work trailer was on fire. It didn’t look good at that point as to there being anything salvageable. She told me my dad was currently unhooking the flaming trailer from his truck to drag it away from the old wood barn it was parked by. I immediately felt the hopelessness of this situation. Carpentry has been my dad’s life for longer than I can remember. He was a carpenter long before he met my mom and started a life and family with her. I believe he and his cousin built a small child-sized cabin back in the woods of my grandparents’ property. This amazed my cousins and me growing up…we couldn’t even comprehend being able to build this before we were ten or the freedom that would come with having a hide-out as a child so far from adult supervision. He has been building and fine tuning his craft almost his entire life. He is an artist when he is building and I think many of his former customers would agree.
Being self-employed I can sympathize with losing all of the tools you need to complete your work and to lose everything at once is devastating. This is one of my own biggest fears. The fire has left him with only the lock that was on the outside of the trailer door. He doesn’t even have a hammer left. He lost the tools he used to remodel our house, the tools he used to build the Union Mills Little league ball diamonds, the tools for building toy boxes and tools that have worked on numerous projects in homes across La Porte county. He did have the trailer insured and there is a small amount that will cover the contents of the trailer. While this will be helpful it won’t even cover 15% of the cost of what the trailer contained. Without his trailer and his tools he is unable to work. Wednesday morning after the fireman left he looked around not sure what to do and said, "I'd go to work but I don't even have a hammer
. He will be starting a career he has had for over 45 years from scratch.
My dad is one of the most hard-working, talented and giving people I know. None of my four siblings or I would be where we are in life if it weren’t for him (and my mother, obviously). He never hesitates to build a prop for me last minute, fix a backed-up septic, change a flat tire on the side of the highway or even put a roof over our heads when we need it.
Thank you for all the prayers that have been sent up and words of encouragement that have already been given. As my dad starts his career over I know he will be humbled and grateful for anything you could spare to donate. Thank you from my entire family.
“We can never be prepared for everything in life. The best we can hope for is to be able to handle whatever is thrown in our path without going crazy.” –Felice Stevens
On the morning of December 16, I got a call from my little sister letting me know that my dad’s work trailer was on fire. It didn’t look good at that point as to there being anything salvageable. She told me my dad was currently unhooking the flaming trailer from his truck to drag it away from the old wood barn it was parked by. I immediately felt the hopelessness of this situation. Carpentry has been my dad’s life for longer than I can remember. He was a carpenter long before he met my mom and started a life and family with her. I believe he and his cousin built a small child-sized cabin back in the woods of my grandparents’ property. This amazed my cousins and me growing up…we couldn’t even comprehend being able to build this before we were ten or the freedom that would come with having a hide-out as a child so far from adult supervision. He has been building and fine tuning his craft almost his entire life. He is an artist when he is building and I think many of his former customers would agree.
Being self-employed I can sympathize with losing all of the tools you need to complete your work and to lose everything at once is devastating. This is one of my own biggest fears. The fire has left him with only the lock that was on the outside of the trailer door. He doesn’t even have a hammer left. He lost the tools he used to remodel our house, the tools he used to build the Union Mills Little league ball diamonds, the tools for building toy boxes and tools that have worked on numerous projects in homes across La Porte county. He did have the trailer insured and there is a small amount that will cover the contents of the trailer. While this will be helpful it won’t even cover 15% of the cost of what the trailer contained. Without his trailer and his tools he is unable to work. Wednesday morning after the fireman left he looked around not sure what to do and said, "I'd go to work but I don't even have a hammer
. He will be starting a career he has had for over 45 years from scratch.
My dad is one of the most hard-working, talented and giving people I know. None of my four siblings or I would be where we are in life if it weren’t for him (and my mother, obviously). He never hesitates to build a prop for me last minute, fix a backed-up septic, change a flat tire on the side of the highway or even put a roof over our heads when we need it.
Thank you for all the prayers that have been sent up and words of encouragement that have already been given. As my dad starts his career over I know he will be humbled and grateful for anything you could spare to donate. Thank you from my entire family.
“We can never be prepared for everything in life. The best we can hope for is to be able to handle whatever is thrown in our path without going crazy.” –Felice Stevens
Organizer and beneficiary
Wendy Noren
Organizer
Avon, IN
Rick Swanson
Beneficiary