"If you've never had to put a house back together after a fire, congratulations. It's not something we recommend. Take it from someone who has been there — who is still there.

In early March, an electrical fire in our home launched my wife, Dona, and me down an unfamiliar path. There were endless decisions: Where were we going to live for the next six to 10 months? Should we buy new socks or wait for our old ones to be de-smoked and returned to us? How does the cleanup-salvage-rebuilding operation work?"