By Tania Martin
TAIS Soubra is still counting herself lucky after her family escaped the Black Saturday disaster with their lives.
The Yarra Glen family lost their home on that horrific day almost a year ago.
But the Monbulk bridal shop owner said that despite having their lives, it was still a struggle every day.
Mrs Soubra is now living in Monbulk with a friend, while her husband has found a temporary house in Northcote.
“I go down there on the weekends … it’s just too far to travel every day,” she said.
For Mrs Soubra, picking up the pieces of her shattered life has been anything but easy.
“You have really good days and bad days … my husband really struggled there for a while but he’s a lot better now,” Mrs Soubra said.
“He was so close to it.”
Mrs Soubra was left with just a bikini and beach towel on 7 February 2009.
After closing her bridal shop shortly after noon she had taken her girls to the pool in Seville to cool off.
They left the pool shortly after 5pm when Mrs Soubra’s daughter, Ashlea started to get concerned over the smoke-filled sky.
The trio started to head back to Yarra Glen because they decided that would be the safest option but they had no idea what awaited them.
“I rang my husband (Alex) and told him to get out of the house,” Mrs Soubra said.
But Mr Soubra didn’t believe the fire was as close as his wife had feared.
After the short phone call he went outside and discovered the family dog was distressed and saw the flames heading for the house.
He then pulled on a pair of boots, grabbed the dogs and headed for the car.
Mr Soubra was heading back down the mountain towards his wife with flames running alongside the road.
He was forced to turn around several times before sheltering on the lawn at Yering Station winery with several others who had been caught out.
Mrs Soubra said she wouldn’t have gotten through the trauma of the past 12 months without the support of the Monbulk community.
“They have been really great … it was not only the gifts at the start but they are always popping in to see how I am going,” she said.
Mrs Soubra said that some days she just couldn’t hold it together.
“I can be talking to someone and I’ll just burst into tears … it doesn’t take much to set me off,” she said.
Deciding what to do next has been the hardest hurdle for the Soubras.
“I don’t want to go back up there … I don’t know how much safer it is here (Monbulk) but I love this area,” Mrs Soubra said.
Mrs Soubra said although grateful for her life she was now starting to miss those irreplaceable keepsakes.
“It’s the things I could never replace like my grandmother’s things that I received when she died … things you can never get back,” she said.
Mrs Soubra said the support from the community and even strangers had been amazing.
“I never expected it but knew the support would be there – I never felt alone,” she said.
The Soubras are hoping to eventually settle down in Monbulk but are still a bit reluctant to start all over again.
“I get scared if we start all over again and lose it all again … it probably would never happen ever,” Mrs Soubra said.
She said there were days she wanted to pull her bed covers up and never come out.
“But at the same time you are constantly reminding yourself that there are people out there who died, and to stop being such a sook,” she said.
