National First Responders Day

There is a movement to make today National First Responders Day (also a bill was introduced for it to be September 25th), but I'm going with today's date.

So have you hugged and/or thanked a first responder today? These men and women certainly deserve our thanks and gratitude. Their job is to be there when we need them the most. They come when there is a house fire, they are at car accidents, a brutal assault, they rush your grandmother to the hospital with chest pains. They do their best to protect us, to save our lives, to pick up the pieces. And they do this at the expense of a "normal" life. Because they are out there for us, they miss out on things like holidays, sleep, good pay, not knowing what a dead person looks like/smells like...The second most common response to my husband is an EMT, after I bet he has interesting stories, is, I could never do that.

And that is exactly it, most of us could not do it, we couldn't go out there and be a firefighter, a police officer or a medic. We would puke at the first bad smell or run from the first gunshot (or bullet wound).

Whether First Responders Day is the 25th or the 27th, we need a day to thank these men and women for what they do and for what they give up to do it. We need to thank them for having the courage, the chutzpah, the cojones to do these jobs.

Below is a post I wrote a while back. But I wanted to post it today as it highlights a characteristic of the man I married and is part, albeit, only part of, why he is who he is and why he does what he does:

Sometimes really sad things happen and my husband's job is to be there when they do. Surprisingly, he's rarely rattled by what he sees and who he talks to. But sometimes, something happens that rattles his (incredible) composure. He went to a call where this girl was trying to leave her abusive boyfriend with their baby in a stroller. She was walking to the street corner to meet her mother and brother who were coming to pick her up. The abusive boyfriend pushed her off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic. It was her mother and brother that hit her, and she did not survive.

I think this rattled him because he didn't understand this man's actions at all as my husband is the complete opposite of that. I know without a doubt, he would step in front of that car for me. He is simultaneously my security blanket and my biggest cheerleader. I know that when my life gets too heavy or dangerous, he will be there to step in front of me and protect me from whatever. Today, I am grateful for my husband who loves me, protects me and supports me. I also wish that for everyone else, that they find that in their lives too. In the meantime, they can borrow mine for three 12 hour shifts a week (and any time he sees someone broken down on the side of the road, or anytime someone gets sick in a store, okay, so it's more like whenever he sees that someone needs help...).

And so to my husband, who is probably embarrassed by this post right now, who shrugs and says its not a big deal when I tell him I'm proud of him for what he does, modest soul that he is. I say it is a big deal, and I'm proud of you.

Thank you for what you do, thank you to all first responders for what you do, stay safe!