Here's a story in our local paper that just blew me away. A family that lost everything and someone offers them a house, clothing, and a job and their response is "no thanks, it's too cold in Michigan". Unbelievable. I guess it's better to be hot and homeless
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http://ilecamera.com/stories/090905/...50909003.shtml
Eight weeks ago, Rick Frizzell's mother passed away. Her three-bedroom house on Grosse Ile has sat empty and on his drive down to help with the Hurricane Relief, Rick came up with what he thought was a wonderful idea and a fitting tribute to his mom.
"I wanted to try and find a family to put in that house," he said. "Why not find a family that has lost everything and move them up here and set them up in that house? My mother would have been so proud of that idea."
So Frizzell started talking to people about the idea.
"One of the shelter directors suggested I just start talking to people and getting to know them, and that maybe I would find one that I think would be a good fit," Frizzell said. "I also have a responsibility to my neighbors on Grosse Ile. I don't want to bring back someone who doesn't respect the law or anyone like that."
So Frizzell started meeting people. And a young family caught his attention.
"The parents were probably in their late 30s and they had two young daughters," Frizzell said. "They had lost everything. All they had were the clothes on their back. John and Sue were the parents' names."
Frizzell wanted to set them up in his mother's house, provide them all with new wardrobes, get them jobs at one of his businesses and get them back on their feet.
On his drive home to Michigan he got a phone call.
"They called me and said they didn't want to come to Michigan because of the climate," he said. "They thought they might get sick because they have never even seen snow."
Frizzell said it was one of the most shocking calls he's ever received.
"I didn't know what to say," he said. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I called the director of the shelter and she was stunned."
The experience hasn't hindered his spirit. "I want to put a family in that house," he said. "It's the least I could do for some family that has been through this ordeal."