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Waldo Canyon fire victim remains hopeful despite devastation
Posted: 07.01.2012 at 5:20 PM
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Remnants of Bobby's home following the Waldo Canyon Fire  / FOX21 News
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By Travis Ruiz and Ashley Crockett

A 1974 pickup. A beloved tackle box. His wife's dresses.

All gone, yet grace continues to shine through for 79-year-old Bobby Finch.

"At least she's going to get a new wardrobe," Bobby said which a chuckle.

Like hundreds of others, Bobby lost everything in Colorado's most devastating wildfire.

"Oh my God... I wouldn't believe this if I didn't see it."

As Bobby drove up, he found the charred remains to the place he and his wife had called home for many years.

"Well this was my house right there," he said.

Sifting through the material remnants of his 79 years, Bobby reflected on life's treasures oftentimes gone unsung.

While staying at a hotel during the evacuation, Bobby was doing paperwork when he thought: "I'll staple this together when I get home."

That's when Bobbby realized he wasn't going home.

"It's the little things," he said.

Little things like glazed carrots.

"We can't even have any glazed carrots now because my carrots were refigerated, and my honey's gone."

Returning to his home, the only things still standing were a bathroom wall and an air conditioner.

Everything Bobby and his wife had collected for nearly 60 years was gone.

"Those are things, and things can be replaced," he said. "The only thing that can't be replaced are your memories."

Bobby said this was just another obstacle. He is a war veteran and, with his wife, survived the death of two of their four children.

"We've been through obstacles and obstacles, and the Lord provides," Bobby  said. "He knows what He's doing. We might not like it, but He knows what He's doing."

And it's that faith that is giving Bobby hope and grace.

"It just made my faith stronger," he said. "That's all."

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