September 11th to me is a day for reflection. I have officially lived half my life in a post 9/11 world, 13 years after that fateful day. This was my generation's Pearl Harbor, it was our call to arms, it was our call to give back to which we've taken so much from. I've had an entirely too slow traffic day on the car lot but it has given me some time to reflect on where I was that day, how I responded to it, and how it led me to grow as a person. I've gotten through all of the sad memories like watching smoke drift down the beaches for weeks afterwards, and gotten into some of the happier memories I have from my days as a volunteer firefighter. I always tell Jess I don't write as much as she does for the blog because I struggle to always keep it as positive as she does, but for today I want to reflect on the other side of 9/11, the side that led people to give back. Maybe it's just a little bit of a memory lane for me, but I think about my time as a volunteer every year when this day comes around.
(18? year old me cheesin it up for the camera)
There are a million different reasons to want to become a firefighter, not all of which are right, but it's a profession that I have the utmost respect for. Little boys are conditioned to want to be cops or firemen from the get-go with all the themed toys we play with growing up, but I didn't know I'd ever get to play firemen for real one day. In the northeast, most towns have all volunteer fire departments, our budgets just can't sustain a fully staffed fire department, and most kids grow up seeing their neighbors or their friend's fathers running out the door to make it to the firehouse in someone else's time of need. These guys go through all the same training as a paid firefighter would, practice the same techniques, and sometimes make the same ultimate sacrifice as their paid counterparts. Small towns can get away with a volunteer department most of the time though since they're not running nearly the volume of calls that some larger areas run. Anyway, getting away from my point, I never really thought I would join the fire department until after 9/11. Those men and women did what they did because it was their job and it was the right thing to do, there were people that needed them. I went down to the firehouse shortly after my 16th birthday and found myself a member that would sponsor me as a junior member. I can remember being asked why I wanted to join and the best thing I could say at the time was "I want to give back." I was 16 years old, I don't think I quite fully understood what I was "giving back" to yet, but I would learn.
About two years later I had spent 5 months going through the fire academy and was already well ingrained with my local fire department as a little brother to most, an extra son to a few, and even an added grandchild to some of the old-timers who would enlighten this starry-eyed young man with a few of their old war stories(with embellishments). I was also still a probie, working my butt off and training hard to be faster and more proficient then some of the older guys, also still doing most of the dishes after a big meal on a meeting night and packing what seemed like miles of hose after drills.
(The two guys that took me under their wing immediately and always watched my back, Richie and Mick)
Time went by and I started to spend more and more time around the guys, they became a second family to me. I got to take part in more community outreach and service then I had ever thought I would. Going to the local schools for fire education week in early October was always a blast, showing the little ones all of the equipment, teaching them what to do in case of a fire, and letting them ride the truck always put a smile on my face for a few days. The kids always made it time well spent. Around Christmas we ran a present delivery with Santa included, making a few dozen stops on our way around town, hands down my favorite night of the year. It's amazing some of the little guys didn't blow up when they got the combination of Santa, presents, and a fire engine parked out in front of their house with the lights flashing haha.
(James, Pat, and myself. The "elves" had a long, cold night on the back of the engine that year...so worth it.)
As I put more and more time in at the house, I got more and more out of it. I learned skills I'll take with me for the rest of my life, I met people from my small town I otherwise never would have known, and I felt fulfilled. I celebrated milestones with my new extended family, both theirs and mine.
(Just a tenth of the entourage for my 21st birthday. Can you believe your daughter is marrying this knucklehead in a month Mr. and Mrs. Meagher?)
It may not start out in your blood, but once you've been bitten it's always there. I never imagined myself getting in to some of the things we got in to over the years. I never thought that about a year after that last picture above was taken, I'd be posted up at the firehouse overnight waiting for Hurricane Irene to break loose and chaos to ensue. I actually acted as an officer for that one with a crew of my own, all 18 and 19, waiting for their 22 year old officer to tell them how to take action. Experience I can't and wouldn't want to replace. I stayed up most of that night texting Jess to make sure she was still doing okay in Maryland, reassuring her I was okay, and trying not to think about what a direct hit would mean to my little shore town come sunup. We ran calls all night and come morning had a burner the next town over.
(We're actually on a street here pumping water to the house fire in the background.As the flood water started to recede we had to get out and maneuver.)
Little did I know that Hurricane Irene was just a warm up for Hurricane Sandy another year down the road, but I would be in Georgia for that one. I don't know if I would have joined if it wasn't for 9/11. I came to find out after I joined that my grandfather had volunteered for years when he was younger so I guess it actually was in my blood. To me it was the right thing to do at the right time, it was a way to give back to a community that I grew to know a little more completely. I can never replace the times I had with my brothers. I'll never let 9/11 go by without thinking of those men and women running up those stairs in the towers without fully knowing what was going to happen, but doing it anyway because they were the last hope for the hundreds of people trapped above them. Take a moment to think about their sacrifice, their service, and give your loved ones an extra hug and kiss tonight because 13 years ago today, we were all taught that life can change too damn fast.
