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David Friedman / NBC News
Tom Fraser-Dillon tries out the new snare drum his son Mack just received as a Christmas present.
Christmas Eve at the Fraser-Dillon house is supposed to be crazy. It’s supposed to be loud, and there should be 20 to 30 family members and friends coming through for non-stop cooking and celebration. There should be a real Christmas tree, “the fullest from the lot,” decorated Victorian style.
This year it’s just Tom and Kim, their son Mack, 13, daughter Alexa, 19, her boyfriend Brian Kolb, their two dogs Gia and Otis, a pizza delivery, and a fake tree. But they’re here, while most of their neighbors are not.
David Friedman / NBC News
Kim and Tom, interrupted from last minute gift wrapping, try to coax Gia off the table.
David Friedman / NBC News
Brian Kolb, left, and Alexa, Kim and Mack Fraser-Dillon gather for a pizza delivery dinner on Christmas Eve.
Their Breezy Point, N.Y., home was inundated with superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters. “Jellyfish on the table. Seaweed in the refrigerator,” Kim remembers finding after three feet of water receded from their main floor. The house has belonged to Kim’s family since 1969 and it’s the only home Mack and Alexa have ever known.
“Kim said I want to be in by Christmas,” Tom recalls. So he got to work. He’s been living there full-time since the storm – eating many military style MREs – doing most of the cleanup and rebuilding work himself, with help from Kolb. He ticks off a list of tasks completed already: mold remediation, new flooring, new insulation, new sheetrock, new electrical.
Today, just before Christmas Eve dinner, Tom got their heat working again for the first time since Sandy.
David Friedman / NBC News
Tom plays with Gia, left, and Otis.
David Friedman / NBC News
The Fraser-Dillon house is the only inhabited house in their neighborhood on Christmas Eve.
See more of NBCNews.com's continuing coverage of Breezy Point in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, including how some spent their Thanksgiving there.
Leave a Comment:
It will take years and years and years for that Breezy neighborhood to look even halfway the way it did. If all the houses are gone.....sad, very sad.
Merry Christmas, Tom, Kim and family. We never met but I'm happy I know all about people like you. Enjoy the holidays and when spring starts to turn to summer have the biggest Memorial Day party you ever had; I might just crash the gate!
So glad to know this family can celebrate Christmas in whatever way they can. No Christmas celebrations at my home this year. No money.
I am sorry to hear about your troubles during this time and can only hope that you may be able to find some small sliver of silver lining among all your clouds. May 2013 bring you happier days.
Hi, Jamie, it sounds like it's been a rough year for you this year. Still, Christmas isn't really about presents, is it? It's about what's in your heart, and about the real Christmas story. We have had a few years--alas, also including this one--when we exchanged hand-made Christmas cards and gifts. We've learned to have fun seeing how creative we can be making things for each other. There are no expensive, store-bought presents, but sometimes (often) the hand-made ones are even better. I hope things get much better for you in 2013.
God Bless Tom, Kim and family and may he continue to guide you through this difficult journey in your lives.!
Happy Holidays and a happier 2013
Glad they're safe and sound in their home...but that's no excuse to treat the American Flag in that manner!! I know it seems minor, but to see a torn flag, not even a little torn...but a huge rip...so disrespectful.
Seasons Greetings Boris: To me, the old Red,White & Blue looks perfect considering the torn and tattered lives of the fine folk trying to survive the Breezy Point disaster. Hopefully, by next Christmas, they and their neighbors can be proudly flying new ones again.
they barely have walls up, fool! didn't you read the article?
:)
What an accomplishment! Tom, this world is what it is because of hard-working men like you. You obviously love your family to work so hard to put your home back together. Kudos to you!
Please God bless this family, the world and Thank you for sending your only son to save us all. Happy birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to all.
Bravo, Fraser-Dillon Family. Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of Texas I've lived in Houston for seven years though originally from Philly and YOU KNOW that pizza's better than any you'll find south of the mason-dixon line, period. Next year will be better. Merry Xmas to the family.