Throwback Thursday: Growing Up Around The Fire Department

            I do apologize for lack of columns this week. Just been crazy with end of term and the start of vacation from college. As well as getting some things started, which I will go into more detail about tomorrow. But this morning I was hanging with my friends, Lynette Lee and Sylvia Stein, and I mentioned about how as a kid I got to write in fire trucks in parades. IT was one of the perks growing up around the fire department.

            But it isn’t all fun and games being a kid growing up around the fire department. There are those night when you go to bed and your father or mother isn’t back yet from a call they went out on. You go to bed worrying even though you are told not to worry. Or my personal experience of having to ride in one of the trucks to a call. My dad got into a bit of trouble for that one. I was terrified since I wasn’t prepared for the experience. I got taken back to the station by one of the other firefighters in their car.

            I saw more than one car accident pretty close up, but nothing too gruesome. And there was always the annual Halloween party at the fire station. It was pretty nice to go to that and get to eat a lot and enjoy the festivities. I got more into it later in my childhood. Plus, if I was around and my dad had to go on call I got to take over the meeting room as if I owned it while they were out on call. I fell asleep more than once.

            When they were out I just watched television. It was really all there was to do there. As I got older I started to grasp more and more of the culture. Starting with the radio codes. Then learning more and more about the gear and the trucks. And yes I checked the legitimacy of the movie Backdraft. I even dressed as a firefighter one year for Halloween. And no mom you may not release that picture to the public.

            Growing up in a firefighting family you learn to have meals quick if you want to have them together. After all you never know when a call will come in taking a loved one away from the table. Though you do get used to the nightly radio address coming over the radio during dinner. Basically it is just announcements for the department at a certain time. And I imagined myself at one point being a firefighter, at least a volunteer one.

            But health issues got in the way of that. Sort of fate’s way of saying that isn’t the path meant for you to walk. Kind of hard to accept when you are the third generation in a line of men who have been firefighters before you. But I came to terms with it. I still support the local departments near where I live in any way I can when I hear about a way. And respect them above all else. And if you are ever in Portland, Maine you might stop over to the Fire Museum over on Sprint Street just off State Street. It has a lot of old trucks that bring back memories and some old timers that will tell some good tales to you. They also run the truck that hands out coffee and things like that to the firefighters when they are on long calls.

            I hope you enjoyed today’s walk along memory lane and shout out to another place to go down memory lane. Feel free to leave questions and comments below. And if you want my columns to appear in your inbox enter your email address in the box below where it says follow by email. As for me I have some more writing to do tonight before I call it quits. *Tips his hat and walks out the door. *