Norma Jean’s Story: Angels in a Trailer Park
Talent Mobile Estates was on the corner of Talent Avenue and Arnos. The nine trailers in the first row at the west side of the park, near the street, were saved from the fire. One of these trailer homes was Norma Jean’s.
Gayla and her husband, Mike, took a walk down the row, wondering if they could help these people whose homes had apparently barely survived the fire. On their way, they spoke to a nice man who was washing his truck outside the trailer. The man wanted them to come an “take a look” at the fender of his son’s car. The fire had melted the fender. His son had lost everything in the fire. He spoke of the fierceness of the fire and revealed that the fire had actually gutted the inside of his trailer home. His was not one of the nine saved. He was very emotional. It seemed that he wanted to say more but was choked with emotion. He smiled and wished Gayla and Mike a good afternoon.
Then they met Norma Jean (her father had named her for Marilyn Monroe), who lived in the middle of the row and knew pretty much everyone whose tailer had been spared. Norma said the fire came up from the east before anyone even knew it was there. It was a park of mostly older people, and many had been napping. Soon neighbors were running around, knocking on doors, and trying to warn people to get out. One woman whose trailer did not survive was reported burned sitting in her chair. One son was trying to wake his dad to get him out. The police had to rescue him. There was no water in the park. People fled, not knowing if their home would be there when they came back, and only the nine in the first row were still there intact.
A strong recollection that Norma Jean had when she returned to her trailer home was the smell of all the spoiled food that had been left in the homes when people fled. A lot of people in the remaining trailers were using ice chests. Norma knew a family with children that were there who needed a refrigerator badly but couldn’t afford one. She found one on sale at Goodwill, bought it using insurance money and had it delivered the next day.
Norma said she would not want to live anywhere else but the trailer park. “People care for each other here, and it is down to earth.” Gayla said Norma was reluctant to see her go. She promised to come back and check on Norma, which she did. She had to wave good-bye all the way out of the park until they couldn’t see each other anymore.
On Gayla’s next visit, Norma said a rich man bought it and made changes. The park was divided into smaller plots. The people had to share driveways and meters were put in rows to accommodate the smaller places. She said, “It won’t be the sleepy, little funky place it was before, with a personality like it was…with big, tall trees all around to add quiet and beauty…those are gone too.”
But the heart and the spirit of the people are strong there, and they are glad their homes were saved.
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