WILLIAMSBURG — Jeanette Weaver was enjoying a cup of coffee in her second-story Bristol Commons townhouse Sunday afternoon when she heard a whooshing sound and a crash.
“It started coming on out of nowhere. It came — whoosh — over me,” Weaver said. “It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it.”
“All of a sudden stuff was raining down,” Weaver added. “I got up and I saw that everything was fire.”
Weaver rushed out of her townhouse in Bristol Commons just before it was leveled by a crashing helicopter.
“It was just that fast,” Weaver said. “I didn’t have time to get anything.”
Weaver spent her Sunday morning at Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. When she got home she said she changed into lounging clothes appropriate for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
“Little did I know I’d have no clothes,” she quipped. They’re now all she owns.
She had been living in Bristol Commons for three years. The townhouses were old but well-maintained, she said.
“I loved being here,” Weaver said.
She moved into Bristol Commons after moving out of her old house when her husband, Jim, died. She still had several mementos from their time together, including a Knabe grand piano and two walls lined with shelves of music from her husband’s favorite composer, Bach.
“It’s all gone,” Weaver said. “All of that beautiful music is gone.”
She stayed with her sister Sunday night and will do so for the foreseeable future. Weaver said she doesn’t expect to organize a fundraiser to help her rebuild her life, but she’ll rely on her church family to help her get by.
“We’re figuring it out,” Weaver said.
Andrew Harris can be reached at andrew@localvoicemedia.com
