Johnston Family is Home for the Holidays

While 2018 brought big changes for many families, the Johnstons have added three new people to their family, and now they finally have a new home.

Danielle and Trevor Johnston's five-month-old triplets were born just weeks before their home in Griffin burned down in August. The family of nine moved into their new home earlier this month.

“This is pretty close to what we had,” she said. “It’s a little bit different, but the same size and everything that we had before. The only thing is, this is better because this is all wired properly. That’s what happened with our other house, it was wiring issues. That’s what lit it on fire.”

She said the experience of losing their home to a fire made adjusting to the new home a little different than they had expected.

“It’s nice that the kids are in a house where they can feel safe, because the first night we were there they were all worried that this house was going to light on fire and I had to explain to them that it’s brand new wiring, nothing is going to happen, it’s going to be okay,” described Johnston.

“They’re all excited to be in the home, but I had to sleep with them that first night,” she added. “Now they’re all adjusted perfectly. But it was scary, and it kind of traumatizes kids to see their house on fire the way they did, to lose their animals and all their things.”

When life brings stress, pets are often a comfort for families. But the Johnstons three cats, Wolfie, Jade and Skyler, were lost in the fire.

“It sucks, we had a really nice house and lots of nice things,” expressed Johnston. “We weren’t rich but we weren’t poor, we did alright. I could get rid of all the stuff, but it’s those damn cats, you know?”

She added that to compound the pain of losing the cats, their six-month-old German shepherd puppy Ryker was scared of the rescuing firefighter and refused to leave the home.

“He died, protecting our house, with smoke inhalation,” said Johnston.

She said two of their dogs did survive, however, but the loss of Ryker was particularly difficult for dog Heidi, who had considered him her baby.

“That was her surrogate baby,” she said. “And then for three weeks, I had to hand-feed her because she wouldn’t eat. And she’d lay right where he was buried.”

The family lost treasured family heirlooms and photos including all of the baby pictures of their oldest son Dillon. Johnston said her daughter Kate had recently asked to see her baby pictures to compare to baby Karlee, who is the spitting image of her big sister. But alas, those were lost as well.

Johnston said she is grateful the family had pictures done each year from local photographer Vanessa Lanktree, who has since provided them with every picture she has ever taken of the Johnston family.

The fire had also consumed the many things needed to care for three babies, which Johnston said she had just finished acquiring before their early births. But the community rallied, and a Go-Fund-Me page was started right away, and people from Weyburn, Griffin and area made sure the family wouldn't go without the things they needed.

“In a matter of a couple days I had pretty much everything I needed and it was all from what people had given me because I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” she explained. “I can’t even go shopping because I’ve gotta take three babies with me. Like, I go shopping, but it’s not an easy task.”

Johnston said Queen Elizabeth School was particularly supportive, including providing school supplies, milk program, and hot lunches for the year.

She said she and her family are grateful for all the help and support shown to them from the community. They moved in just a couple of weeks ago and they’re now settling in for Christmas.

Johnston said if she could sum up 2018 in one word, it's 'thankful'.