I’ve always been in awe of the variety of skills found among a group of firefighters. There have been many times my husband has called upon our fire family to help us out with things that are beyond our skills, abilities, or time constraints.
Our current home is a “fixer-upper short sale” that we bought about five months ago. My husband’s friends have repaired or upgraded many things since then, including the air conditioner, the kitchen pipes, the laundry room plumbing, electrical outlets, and outdoor lighting. A Captain once came and helped my husband replace a broken glass door. We’ve had another firefighter come look at the roof and give us an estimate for the future. Some of the guys helped move old appliances out before we moved in. More guys helped cut up and haul away pine trees. To top it off, we’ve even received garden greens and chicken eggs. For our part, we’ve supplied writing and proofreading skills, gunsmithing services, yard help, moving assistance, babysitting and even pet sitting to other firefighters who have asked.
Where else can you find so many talents and skills from people willing to lend a hand any time? Of course, I’m not talking about everyone doing things for free. Even though money is sometimes exchanged, we’re glad that we can pay someone we know and respect to do the work. On top of that, we’ve never yet had any problems that haven’t been fixed immediately when the work has been done by a fellow firefighter.
I consider us lucky to be part of such a great department. So lucky in fact, that I’m going to head outside and enjoy the new, beautifully built porch on the back of the house. Come Monday, when the guys are off shift again and they add the roof, it will be one more home improvement project, finished to perfection. Despite differences of opinion or stupid station squabbles, it seems that firefighters are always brothers, both on duty and off.
