Originally when I was asked to write this from the perspective of a firefighter’s wife I had no idea what I was going to write, but then my family and I experienced the need of emergency personnel first hand and I finally had another perspective. What I realized is that we tend to take our emergency services personnel (police, fire, ambulance) for granted. It isn’t until you experience a situation where you NEED the help that their impact really hits home.
My husband is a volunteer firefighter and I’ll be honest, until the horrifictragedy on September 11th, 2001, I never realized that he could respond to a call and not come home. Don’t get me wrong….we don’t live in a city….especially not one as large a New York, but the risk is always there.
I started thinking, what makes someone willing to risk their life and wellbeing for others, not just for the lives of others but also the property of others. I know that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us, but there are men and women everyday exhibiting the self-less traits that they have learned from a most gifted teacher. I know that making a decision to be a firefighteris a VOCATION, not a job. It is a calling.
An undeniable need in ones soul to do as God would want…to risk one, for the good of many. This is why so many paid the ultimate price that day. I suppose that may be why they term it the “fire call”….it’s a calling…not a choice!
The reason why this all came into focus for me most recently, was that my family and I were trapped in downtown Detroit in a severe flooding situation. The City of Detroit is bankrupt and although there are police and fire services, they are severely under-funded and sparse. On our way back to Canada, completely unaware of any flooding situation, we came upon a blockade on the interstate. There were no signs, no notice, no emergency personnel and no power, just a blockade and a ramp off the interstate into the worst part of Detroit.
I thank God that my husband was driving, because as I began to panic, thinking of the situation we had just got ourselves and our 11 and 6 year old daughters into, he had it together. As I shook uncontrollably…he took charge. When there were no emergency personnel to be found anywhere…he was ourfirefighter! We made it home that night after 14 feet of water on the roads, endless traffic, getting rear-ended, roadblock after roadblock and 3 hours of terror and panic, because of him. He will always be my hero! This is why I say it is a calling.
When my family and I were involved in that situation, there were no emergency personnel to be found. There were thousands of others in the same situation and worse. What if the call comes…and no one responds? I know there are thousands of families who thank God each day that their loved ones are alive because a firefighter took that call. That fateful day in September, the call came in and without pause they took the call and 343 firefighters and 72 police officers paid the ultimate price, and for that
WE REMEMBER!
About Shannon:
I am a wife, a mom of 2 beautiful girls (ages 6 and 11) and by day a CPA, who has lived in Essex almost my entire life. Just a few months after our one year wedding anniversary, my husband, Doug, joined the Essex Fire Department as a firefighter on September 17, 2001. We have lived the life of an
"on call, at a moment's notice"
fire family ever since :)
No comments:
Post a Comment