LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Shelly and James Stratton met a little more than two years ago and they found a connection almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a great support,\u201d Shelly said. \u201cWe\u2019ve supported each other. We\u2019ve had our differences, but what marriage doesn\u2019t? We have a real strong belief that we are soulmates.\u201d<\/p>\n
James is a Marine Corps veteran, having served in Iraq in the 2000s. The couple married in May 2025 and decided in March of this year that RV life was the next step for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was ours; we made it our own,\u201d Shelly said. \u201cMy husband just bought a bass guitar and loves to play bass. Maybe again someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early Monday morning, a stove fire spread out of control and consumed their mobile home in Lubbock RV Park on I-27 north of Regis Street.<\/p>\n
Friday was Shelly\u2019s first time to see what\u2019s left. She tells me if she was there, things could\u2019ve turned out much differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have made it out alive,\u201d Shelly said, \u201cbecause I would\u2019ve been in the bunkhouse, which crosses right across the kitchen, and he said it caught fire so fast. I would\u2019ve been asleep, and I don\u2019t move very fast because I have a lot of physical ailments.\u201d<\/p>\n
James, and the couple\u2019s dog, Bean, were in the RV, and while Bean made it out safely, James suffered second degree burns across his body. Doctors say he will need a skin graft on his left arm.<\/p>\n
While Shelly is heartbroken over the loss of the RV, she says material can be replaced, but lives cannot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just grateful he\u2019s okay,\u201d Shelly said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s most important to me. He\u2019s my everything and I\u2019m his reason. That\u2019s what he calls me.\u201d<\/p>\n