PROMISE OF THE FUTURE
EDITOR’S OPINION
He raised his arms expectantly. Two giant hands grabbed underneath them and hoisted him gently into the seat. He squirmed forward, lunged at the worn leather strap that dangled past the steering wheel, and started pulling—he was no stranger to the raucous old brass bell. Instinctively, I squinted tightly, as if that would muffle the din. ’32 Ahrens Fox, hut he didn’t care. He was just sitting on top of the world making the most beautiful music he had ever heard.
lie stopped for a moment and looked at me. “My Daddy’s a firefighter,” he boasted. I smiled, suddenly filled with a magic that comes along only once in a while. I’ve heard it said that for a reconfirmation of faith, look into the eyes of a child. He was pushing and pulling and shaking and squirming, and his eyes were like the moon and the stars.
Two headlights cast our shadows on the wall as they approached the parking lot. “Mommy’s here, sport. Time to go.” The little feet absorbed the great leap downward. Then, hand-in-hand, father and son walked slowly to the bay door. The man lifted him up again, this time for an embrace. Who knows how long it lasted? A thousand years would be too short.
“ bye, son. 1 love you. Be a good boy.”
“1 love you too! See you next week, daddy!”
Together, hands entwined, mother and son walked across that great expanse of parking lot, the son turning at five-foot intervals to wave goodbye. The man stood there looking out long after the car lights had vanished.
This office has had difficulty tracking down recent national statistics on firefighter divorce rates; if such a study has been undertaken and published, we are unaware of it. However, formal documentation aside, we do know that the incidence of divorce among firefighters is alarmingly high and is one of the fire service’s greatest problems. In one fire station I visited recently, all five members on duty at the time had been divorced at least once. Regrettably, I don’t think that’s a great anomaly.
As firefighters, as is your duty, you spend considerable time protecting the unfortunate millions who rely on you for assistance every day. You train hard and work hard. You spend much of your time with your “other family” — your family of firefighters. Some of you take on part-time jobs to make ends meet. How does your family at home fit into the equation, into your life as a firefighter? Has he or she spent night after night in the disconsolate loneliness that too willingly befriends the spouse of a firefighter? Does he or she get to share a big enough piece of you, as a person? Do the children get the time and attention they need and deserve? Will you one day shed bitter tears because somehow you just missed 15 years of your child’s life?
The holiday season is a good time for reflection. While you protect our nation’s most important resource —our people — remember the ones who wait for you to come home every day. When all is said and done, that just may be your most important contribution to securing the promise of the future.
From all of us at Fire Engineering, we wish you and your families a happy holiday season and a very successful and safe 1992.
