Liam holds Valentina as they wait for the Berea Fire Department to clear their house. Valentina said she is worried about Spicy, who is missing. The Wilsons were at the Berea Farmers Market when the fire started which is one of the few times a week they leave their property. If they hadn't been away Liam said he could have lessened the damage.
Liam hands Valentina Spicy who was found dead by the Berea Fire Department. Liam said they try not to have attachment to the material things they lost in the fire but that losing Spicy weighed heavily on them.
Liam holds a photograph of himself and Valentina that was recovered from debris the Berea Fire Department removed from their house. Liam said the fire was one of the worst days of his life. The fire strained Liam and Valentina's relationship. Valentina said she felt less bound to the U.S. and believed she could help her family if she returned to her native Ukraine.
Liam and Valentina sit at their breakfast table a month after the fire. A large portion of their roof was destroyed making it difficult to heat their home during the winter. The Wilsons continued to live in their house for five months after the fire.
Liam rolls a barrel down the hill to their new house on the day they moved in. The Wilsons were forced to leave their previous home because the owners planned to demolish it. "Valentina was trying to hold onto [our house] because she had put so much of her time and energy into the garden," Liam said. "Once it was clear to her that it was not going to be possible, that we had done everything we could to try to stay there and it was just not going to happen...Then she was ready and didn’t have any misgivings."
The Wilsons started planting the day they moved into their new home. "If we don’t get things growing in the ground right now then there’s not going to be time for them to mature and produce anything," Liam said.
Liam takes a break from gardening with his friend Tommy Schmitz. "I’ll be 64 this July and I guess I’m in pretty good health" Liam said. "It’s hard work and i’m not a big guy...but i’ve noticed since we’ve been here it feels like there’s more purpose to me in doing this work."
Valentina reads Thoreau to Liam as he prepares lunch in their new home. The Wilsons are avid readers. Some of their favorite authors are Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi, who have influenced their pacifist beliefs. "We get strength from being at peace [and] doing things according to our beliefs and our philosophy," Liam said.
