Sometimes being a reporter is tough. Last Friday, Jan. 9, my editor called and asked me to go to the scene of an overnight fire on King Road, where two people died.

I had never done this type of story before. This after all, is little old Loomis, it’s pretty quiet here, which is why many of us choose to call Loomis home. Most of our “hard news” comes from our town council, local politics and an occasional crime.

When I arrived at the Konrad home on King Road, I found numerous fire department personnel trying to “clean up” and deal with the rubble of what had once been a family’s home.

Investigators were busy pinpointing where the fire began and determining how it started. Two chaplains were comforting shocked family members and all working at the site were somber. I felt like I was on hallowed ground, like I was an intruder.

But I had a job to do. The Konrads were our people and had lived in Loomis for 30 years. Their neighbors and local friends needed to know what had happened here, so they, too, could remember and grieve.

I asked the chaplain if any of the family members would be willing to talk with me, and they agreed, but asked not to be photographed.

Monica Wilson, one of the seven children of Anne and Frank Konrad, spoke to me about her father’s compassion for others and eagerness to help others at the drop of a hat. She said he was "big on exercise and donating blood."

Monica's two grown daughters told me how their grandfather always greeted them with big, whiskery bear hugs and lifted them off the ground, even at age 83, whenever he saw them. He called them his “little princesses.” They laughed some as they spoke about their grandparents and I was glad I could help them find smiles on such a terrible day.

My heart goes out to this family as they deal with this great loss. The only light I can find in this tragedy is that after almost 55 years of marriage, Anne and Frank went on to the next life together, hand in hand, and that neither is left with the suffocating grief of losing the other. I hope the family finds some comfort in that.

As difficult as it was being at the scene, I hope I never become such a seasoned journalist that I am toughened to the suffering of others.