Hello
everybody, it has been awhile since we last posted so I decided since I had
some free time for the first time in a while I would try to throw something
together. Here lately I have had a little something on my mind so I will share
that with you all.
In November
of 2000 I was beginning my career in the fire service as an explorer with my
local volunteer department, my older brother had just joined up as a member of
the department, and my now sister-in-law was somewhere along that time frame of
joining too. My brother and I were
working on following our dad’s footsteps and excited to do so. Dad was so proud
that we were joining up and wanted to do what he does.
One night
on a mutual aid fire, while I was still an explorer, I got the opportunity to
do some firefighting with my dad. The fire had occurred at a local lumberyard
and they had knocked the fire down but were digging through the hot spots. They
decided it wouldn’t hurt to let me get in and dig with them… I am glad they
did. You see, that was the first and last time I ever got to do that with my
dad, my brothers never got the chance. Not because he passed, but because he
received some terrible news and diagnosis with his health and was diagnosed
with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. You
can bet that I have never forgotten that night though.
Some time
had passed and the doctors decided to do a bone marrow test to see if the
cancer had spread to it or not. The day they did the test they took a piece of
bone from his backside, they also told him no more firefighting. NO MORE….
WTF!!! That night there was a large carpet store fire across town. He asked me
to drive him over there so he could at least watch. Before we arrived they had
called for mutual aid from my volunteer department. When we arrived there he
told me, “ Get your stuff on and go do your thing!” I did, but then later I
returned to check on him. I found him sitting on the hood of a police car and
could tell before I got there that there were huge tears in his eyes. That is
another night I will never forget.
Having to
see him sit there and know he could never do again what he loved so much was
probably one of the hardest things I will ever see in my entire life. If you
have never experienced it with family, a co-worker, close friend, whatever, I
hope you never have to. As you all know we live, eat, breathe, and sleep fire.
That was he also.
Another
issue that hurt was he was told because the chemo would weaken his immune
system that he could no longer go into the schools and teach fire prevention
classes. That’s his job; he is the Public Fire/Life Safety Education
Coordinator. So, BOOM, everything comes to a halt in the blink of an eye. He
however overcame this. Kicked its ass!
After he
beat it he was released to start teaching in schools again, could respond to
fires (without active firefighting), could get back into a groove. That is what
he has done too. Has had a few health issues here and there but has been to
work nearly every day even when he was feeling a little under the weather. The
man is unstoppable. The day he got
released was a memorable day.
The last
memory I want to share happened just the other day; last shift actually. In
October I was hired at the department dad works at, the department I had grown
up around. Until last shift I hadn’t caught a working fire yet. But, that all
ended the other night. Right as we were preparing dinner at the station we
caught a structure fire. We responded, put the fire out, and as I exited the building
to doff my equipment the first person I seen standing at the bottom of the
steps was my dad, smiling at me with a smile that was full of pride, joy, and
love. You guessed it; I will never forget that.
Not
everybody is as fortunate as I am to get to work with his or her father,
mother, brother, etc. If you are however, never forget the memories you get to
make together on the job. There will come a day when you won’t be able to
anymore. I just started and dad will
have 30 years on April 1st. he has no plans of retiring soon but I
know he will one day which means I have to be making the best of time and get
in as many memories as I can with him on the job.
Thanks for
taking the time to read this post and letting me share this with you.
Be Safe!!!
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