Guest Book

Just thought I'd post this from the July 26 issue of The New Yorker" 'It seems incredible now that there was ever a time when you might have walked by a firehouse in New York City and not thought about the lives of the people who worked inside, even if your lack of attention was in some ways a form of respect, an acknowledgment that mere curiosity wasn’t a good enough justification for looking too closely, for intruding on the privacy of people who lived with death, and faced death, every day. That privacy was blown apart on September 11, 2001, and it is not likely ever to be restored completely, although we started to hear, just a few weeks after three hundred and forty-three firefighters had died at the World Trade Center, and while hundreds of others were still recovering body parts from Ground Zero, that most of the men wanted only to return to their routines, to cook for themselves again instead of eating meals provided by grateful New Yorkers, and to stop bearing the burden of being treated as heroes every waking minute of their lives. Thousands of stories have been written about firefighters since that day, but to a great extent the thick red wall that separates these men from the rest of us remains, as it always will; unless you are a member of this family, you can never know all its secrets.' With September very close, just had to mention it... get to know your firefighters...go by the stations, talk to them. It is your building, they just work and live there. Shake a hand, tell the story of your life. Let them know about the lives they protect. Most spent a third of their lives serving you. Missed birthdays, holidays, and celebrations. All for what...to be there 24/7. Firefighters love what they do and love what you do also. Bring your child by the station just to see a truck. Get a blood pressure reading. Talk to them. They care beyond what you can even imagine.