Dear Editor:

"Thank you" just doesn't seem like enough. It's impossible to put into words how grateful we are to our community and beyond, but we will try our best to do just so.

As we helplessly watched our home and all our belongings go up in flames Christmas night, it was extremely hard to imagine how we were going to move forward. But within minutes, we were surrounded by family and friends, offering their love and support. And within the hour, we were receiving messages, texts and phone calls from people asking what they could do for us. It is because of this support that we have been able to start moving forward and rebuilding our lives.

We would like to especially say a heartfelt thank you to the following: the Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport, Edgecomb and Newcastle fire departments and Boothbay EMT Department; how comforting it was to see familiar faces working so hard to save our home and our pets.

Thank you for taking the extra effort to try to salvage as many of our belongings as you could and also for handling the animals with such care. David and Betsy Pratt, Dean Domeyer and the staff of Boothbay Veterinary Hospital for taking such loving care of our beloved dogs and cat after they left our home. Losing them has been, by far, the hardest part of this nightmare, but receiving assurance that they had passed peacefully allows our hearts to rest a bit easier.

Harbor's Choice Laundry for working so hard to save as much of our clothing as possible. The Congregational Church for their prayers and knit blankets. The Scrap Divas for the beautiful quilted blankets. The BRHS boys basketball team for being so thoughtful and spending their own time and money to make sure Sullivan was outfitted with basketball gear.

Our family, friends, neighbors and even strangers have been amazing through all of this, whether it be showing up to the house the morning after the fire to help collect anything that could be saved, making food, offering places for us to live, bringing essentials and clothing, and so much more. The support continues to this day and is overwhelming and so appreciated. We have felt every single good wish and prayer sent our way.

While we work on moving forward and rebuilding our lives and home, please know that we plan on "paying it forward" and supporting others every chance we get. We have felt firsthand how amazing our little community is and know that others will experience the same when going through hard times.

Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Matt, Kate and Sullivan Rice

Boothbay Harbor