While his Christmas plans were dashed, and his north Okanagan home demolished by fire Friday evening, Vernon resident, Gordon Leschyson remains remarkably positive.
“Although the fire destroyed my things, I’ve been blessed by experiencing the very best side of human nature,” Leschyson said Tuesday morning.
“Friends, family, and even people I don’t know have expressed their concern. Although I lost my home, I’m feeling loved by many.This Christmas, for me, will be remembered not as the one where I lost things in a fire, but as the one that restored my faith in how kind people can be.”
Leschyson, who owns and operates his own business in Vernon, relocated to the city 4.5 months ago from Kamloops to build a “dream home” — an energy efficient tiny home constructed out of recyclable materials.
He said he was at the neighbour’s house visiting on Dec.22 when he learned that his beloved home was “engulfed.”
Despite a “very fast” response from the North Westside Fire and Rescue, Leschyson lost everything. The fire was reportedly caused by a malfunction with the heating system. He said his home was not insured.
While a loss of this magnitude would be devastating for many, Leschyson stressed that the items lost to the fire are not as important to him as the lesson he learned this Christmas.
“I don’t want people to feel like they need to help me replace stuff,” he explained.
“How we choose to live our lives is more important than just accumulating things. What I mean by that is that, is the process of creating my own home is much more important than actually having a home. Years ago, I spent 5 years designing/building a spectacular log home. For me, it was an art project. When it was done, I was ready to move onto the next project.Recently, I was inspired to create my tiny home. Now that I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out in it for a while, I’m inspired to re-think/re-design something even better.”
Leschyson says he already has “some cool new ideas” for his next home.
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