GRAFTON TWP. — All 8-year-old Madison Hamilton wants this year is a bedroom to call her own, and in that bedroom, just a bed and dresser will do.

For more than three years, the Hamilton family of Grafton has been living out of cardboard boxes. The family of eight has been shuffled between hotels and houses of family and friends since a fire destroyed their home on state Route 57 in Grafton Township on Oct. 30, 2005.

But now there is a glimmer of hope that the family may one day live under the same roof once again.

Earlier this year, a friend of the family matriarch, Cheryl Hamilton, contacted the ABC television network’s reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on the Hamiltons’ behalf, hoping to get the family back into its own home.

Cheryl Hamilton said the vagabond existence they’ve lived since the fire is so very different than what they had before. Their homeless state has forced them to spend nights with friends or family, and sometimes even in a hotel.

“The difference between then and now is that we always knew where home was,’’ Cheryl Hamilton said, noting that the home that burned was where her husband, Duane, grew up and where he moved his family in 1996.  “We had a quiet life, but it was nice and we had a home.’’

The Hamiltons had been renting the home from Duane Hamilton’s father and, as a result, had only renter’s insurance to cover their losses. The insurance company assessed their losses from the fire blamed on a faulty wall heater at $50,000.

CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE

The Hamilton family, front row, from left: Sydney, 5; Madison, 8; Garrett, 6; and back row: Serena, 15; Ryan, 14, Cheryl Hamilton and Caitlynn, 12, stand outside a house that was rebuilt on their property. Their home on the site burned down three years ago.

Afterward, two local construction companies, 84 Lumber and Modern Poured Walls, gave the Hamiltons a discounted house package and concrete foundation. However, the house is far from complete as it still needs insulation, drywall, electrical and plumbing work, heating, cabinets and a septic system.

The shell is done — it’s what’s not done inside that’s preventing the family from moving back home.

“It’s hard to drive by and see our home sitting there. But we’ll be there someday,” Cheryl Hamilton said quietly.

Duane Hamilton dedicates as much time as he has to finishing the home, but he’s not around much. He lost all of his construction tools in the fire, and he was forced to take another job as a result — one that sees him traveling to do commercial construction all around the United States.

Now, weeks go by during which Duane Hamilton is away. And when he’s home, he’s trying to cram in family time and work on the house, making a weekend all too short.

“We will take it slow. It’s so expensive to live and rebuild, too. I am ready for it to be finished,” Cheryl Hamilton said.

Even as late as Wednesday, the family wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to make it home for Thanksgiving — wherever that may end up being celebrated.

“It’s hard, but you got to do what you got to do,” Cheryl Hamilton said. “We just try to keep things normal and get through the day. We have each other.”

Ever the optimist, Cheryl Hamilton will reluctantly admit life without a home gets hard. She’s never sure each day where she and her children will be sleeping that night.

Cheryl Hamilton admits when the family first became homeless, she would often find herself asking, “Why us?”

“People say that God cannot give you more than you can handle. God must think I am a superwoman,” she said, laughing.

And, she said, it could have been worse. The fire has shown her how giving her community is.

“We are thankful that we are all alive and together. The Grafton community, our friends, family and church family at Grafton United Methodist have been wonderful,” Cheryl Hamilton said

As if all that weren’t enough, last summer, Cheryl Hamilton had another curve thrown at her — she suffered serious complications after she underwent knee replacement surgery. The situation was pretty dire.

“I wasn’t supposed to make it through this past summer, but I did for a reason and I think the reason is to be with my kids,” the mother of six said.

She said her children Serena, 15, Caitlynn, 12, Ryan, 14, Madison, 8, Garrett, 6, and Sydney, 5, are the reason she gets up every morning.

And today, her children are thankful that their mother is able to be with them every day.

“I am happy and thankful that my mom is out of the hospital,” Madison said. “I am also thankful that we survived the fire, and that someday we will have our own house.”

It is Cheryl Hamilton’s hope that her family is chosen as the next “deserving family” for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

“I’d like the house to be done for the kids, so they can go home. With me not being well, I’d like to know that they’d be in a home. They deserve to go home,” Cheryl said in almost a whisper.

Contact Melissa Linebrink at 329-7155 or mlinebrink@chroniclet.com.

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