Fire Life

As most of you know, I am a fire wife.
It's a weird life. It's a great life. I'm so proud of my husband and his career. As we dated, he would talk about wanting to be a firefighter and I would become excited about being able to call myself a firefighter's girlfriend/wife. My father in law is a firefighter and as Brock and I "grew up" together, we saw this life modeled in front of us. We saw the good times and the hard times. I remember one particular night that Brock dropped me off at home. I went inside to watch the news with my parents and saw that a few firefighters had been taken to the hospital...and then my phone rang. I remember being terrified as we drove to the hospital. Tim had been taken in for smoke inhalation and he was fine, but it didn't take away the fear.

As dreams became a reality and Brock interviewed for the fire department, perspectives changed. We had an almost one year old at home and Brock was getting ready to leave for the first week of fire academy in Champaign. Six weeks he would be gone. He came home on the weekends, but I would cry and cry as he left Sunday night to drive back. It was hard. I was lonely, but I was proud.

This life that we live is not easy. It is lonely at times and it can be so frustrating. We plan everything around Brock's schedule, at least we try to. Brock misses things because he is working. We have adapted to this. Every time I send a text or make a phone call that is unanswered, a slight twinge of panic builds up in me. It's scary in that moment but then to think about the long term effects of the environment that they work in. The threat of cancer and other diseases that my husband may be diagnosed with some day. It's just too much to think about at times.

Why am I talking about this? I want you to understand that it is terrifying to think about what my husband does every day. As if this is not enough, we have to worry about budget cuts, lay offs and the safety of the community being in jeopardy. While I'm worrying about my husband being injured in a fire, I'm also worrying about whether the next city council meeting will end his career as a firefighter. It's also scary to think about lay offs that won't impact my husband because they impact another one of the fire families. The cut in personnel may put my husband in more danger because they do not have enough staffing.

Isn't it enough to worry about the job itself without all these other issues?
Please remember our fire families in this community. You may think that they are sitting in the station doing nothing, but that's really a good day for our community. A day that no one lost a loved one or their home. You see, the firefighters are like insurance. You pay for it and you hope that you never have to use it, but thank God you have it when you need it.
Please pray that our community will see the worth in our department and our firefighters.