Strangers' Generosity Keeps Family Afloat

SPRING HILL Denise Higgins was certain her husband would pack up and head back north after their home was destroyed by fire.

And her prediction almost came true.

But something stayed Michael Higgins' hand, something seemingly on its last breath in this age of insularity: the generosity of strangers.

The very first people to help them out technically weren't strangers. The Higgins' neighbors from across the street were the first to spot the smoke puffing out from the eaves of their Zarbis Drive home.

They were the ones who broke the bedroom windows and shouted, "Anybody home?"

But the Higginses and their 15-year-old daughter, Michelle, were at work and school, oblivious that their lives were literally going up in smoke.

Within an hour, giant flames had devoured their three-bedroom home in Preston Hollow, a community on the fringes of East Linden Estates, near the Pasco County border.

A long journey toward recovery awaited the Higgins.

"I never dreamed we would have to start all over again," she said.

But they wouldn't have to go it alone.

Friends and co-workers showed up ready to help. They rolled up their sleeves and worked 10 hours straight - until midnight - to salvage what they could from the ashes.

The Higgins rested their aching muscles that night in a motor home donated by close family friends. The RV would serve as their living quarters for the next four weeks.

Their immediate needs were met in both large and small gestures, from washed laundry to donated coffee and sandwiches. Strangers passing by on Linden Drive would stop and lend a hand in the cleanup efforts.

Especially touching to Michelle Higgins were the donations. Even at night, anonymous letters holding cash were dropped off on the doorstep of their motor home.

One family came by with a $100 bill. Their young children had apparently emptied their piggy bank and were giving up their $6 and change.

They were a one-income family and "in a worse situation than we were," Michael Higgins recalled.

Both have felt the aftershocks of losing a home to fire in different ways. Authorities believe that faulty wires in the cruise control of a '95 Ford F-150 pickup in the garage started the blaze.

As a result, Michelle Higgins avoids parking next to that model pickup whenever she goes out. Her husband feels the anxiety of rebuilding through the occasional upset stomach and headache.

It's been five weeks now and life is looking up for family.

"It certainly can't get any darker," Michael Higgins observes.

Both the Higgins were taught at an early age to keep a "stiff upper lip" and "play the cards you're dealt" in tough situations. They've had their share of trials in 18 years of marriage, from the premature birth of their daughter to a period of unemployment that forced them to give up home insurance.

But thanks to the support of the community, the family will hang tough and rebuild on the same plot.