As she was driving back from Hummels Wharf Tuesday night, Cynthia Ladd was envisioning what her house would look like.

Minutes before, she had received a telephone call and heard that a huge pine tree had fallen through her two-story home in Point Township, Northumberland County.

Fortunately, no one was home, except for her 4-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, Toby.

“He was never OK,” Ladd said, jokingly.

Her real concern was her house in Lithia Springs, which has been in the family for more than 25 years.

“I just hope I can still live here,” Ladd said Wednesday, a day after a powerful late-spring storm sent the pine tree crashing down upon her house.

Friends and family have been around to support Ladd, including workmen from The Handyman, the repair business for which her son works.

Ladd will be staying with her sister, Judy Smith, of Pillow.

“Recovery’s always around the corner,” said Ladd, who believes her homeowners’ insurance will cover the damage.

While nothing like Tuesday’s accident has ever happened to her before, Ladd is no stranger to disaster. She recalls going through a couple of floods and a fire when she was young.

And an even larger tree fell on her property in 2006, nearly hitting the house.

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