Last year around this time I searched and searched for the perfect place to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. We only had a weekend, so we couldn't travel too far, but I wanted it to be romantic. I found a little town in Minnesota only about an hour and a half from home that happened to be a German town. It is full of German restaurants and things we experienced in Germany. I searched bed and breakfasts and found one I was just in love with. I immediately emailed the owner with a million questions. She got back to me and soon I reserved our room for the end of May. From now until May, we'd email back and forth .. she'd tell me what events were going to be going on that weekend and I'd ask questions about different things in the town. She was such a sweet lady, and I was excited to meet her in person.
I'll never forget arriving at the bed and breakfast. We just walked in and didn't see anybody, but we could hear people in the back. We decided to just sit on the porch for awhile ... waiting for someone to notice us? We had barely sat down when the most adorable little girl came skipping out still in her pajamas. She climbed up on my lap and asked me what my name was. We had quite the conversation when I heard someone yell, "Oh shit" from the backroom. The little girl said, "That's mommy. She burnt the cookies and she's really mad." At that point, I asked the little girl if she would go get her mommy and tell her Nick and Grace were here. Over the course of the weekend, we got to know that little girl really well at breakfast and as we'd be walking through the house. One morning she said, "I'm cooking you breakfast today," and brought us each a plate of Barbie shoes. She was just the happiest little girl and made me smile all weekend long. The whole family was that way. They would tell stories and wanted to know about our lives, too. When we'd run into them at the events in town they'd ask if we were having a good time and then let us be on our way. We felt so welcome and when we left I had promised to send pictures of our trip and that we would definitely be returning.
Last night, I just decided to look at the website and see if they had any rooms open for our anniversary this year as I had decided it's the perfect location and we just loved it there. I was very sad to see there was a note on the website saying the bed and breakfast was closed due to a tragic fire and it would take several months to reopen. I was so sad and immediately went to email the owner my condolences, but thought I should see what exactly happened first. I was literally horrified when I typed it into google .. The first headline said something like "6 killed as fire ravages New Ulm bed and breakfast." When I clicked on it, I saw that the owner along with that darling little girl, their 15 year old daughter, and 3 of the guests did not make it out of the fire. The owner's fiance and I think about 3 other guests were able to get out. My heart sank immediately and I could not stop crying... of course, I chose to read on. Big mistake. There were pictures of the bed and breakfast in flames. It was the biggest fire I've ever seen. I read an article that said the cause of the fire had been determined -- candles had been lit for a romantic meal on the porch and were apparently never blown out. The house was up in flames in a matter of minutes.
I looked at the date of the articles .. July 2nd. That is less than 2 months after we had stayed at the bed and breakfast. We were in that very house talking to those people who have now passed away. There was a foreign exchange student living there when we visited who was also very nice, and I did find an article that said he had gone home 3 weeks before the fire happened. I know I am very far removed from this situation, but it truly breaks my heart & makes me sick to my stomach.
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| Us outside The Bohemian Bed and Breakfast |
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| The beautiful house |
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| Our room where we spent the weekend |
I do not know much about these family other than they were very generous and welcoming and that little girl was full of spirit, but I'm hopeful that God carried them all home early that morning and they are all at peace now.
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