On Jan. 6, 2013 at her apartment in Decatur, her whole world turned upside-down. The majority of her stuff was ruined, from her bed to her clothes. The sound of her iPad shattering as it hit the ground was not important at that moment. Her mind was fixated on her custom-made angel statue.

“It is something I love. When I heard about the fire, I immediately thought about my angel,” said Cassidy.

Freshman Cassidy Shenberger was hanging out with her brother and his girlfriend while playing on her iPad, when her day took a wild turn. Cassidy lived in an apartment with her family for three-and-a-half years. She began to feel weird, like something was wrong. She sat outside to play on her iPad, with her brother and his girlfriend. Her brother realized what was going on, ran next door, rapidly knocked on the door, and called the police. Apartment 6 was on fire.

Cassidy began to cry. She, being the only one that lost her belongings, became scared.

After the fire, I was forced to move to Slidell,” said Cassidy.

Cassidy lived in Slidell for about a year and three months. She didn’t like moving to Slidell at all, so now she is back in Decatur living at the same apartment complex.

To this day, smoke worries her. If her parents are cooking outside on the grill, she’s inside, escaping the memory of that day. Even walking outside and smelling smoke in the air brings back a terrible memory. The fear of another fire running through her house destroying all of her belongings will always haunt her, but to this day, Cassidy still holds her angel.

“I probably would have gone crazy if I lost my angel. It took a while to get her,” said Cassidy.