Always Have A Dream



Always have a dream
Forget about the days when its been cloudy,
but don't forget your hours in the sun.
Forget about the times you've been defeated,
but don't forget the victories you've won.
Forget about mistakes that you can't change now,
but don't forget the lessons that you've learnt.
Forget about misfortunes you encounter,
but don't forget the times you luck has turned.
Forget about the days when you've been lonely,
but don't forget the friendly smiles you've seen.
Forget about the plans that didn't seem to work out right,
but don't forget to always have a dream.

- Amanda Bradley












Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Last week was a long week

  It's been just over a week since the first Firefighters funeral both Mike & I have ever been in. Joe, one of our firefighters, passed away from cancer. He was only 53. He was in a hospital in Grand Rapids for quite a while, then when he took a turn for the worst, he was transfered back down here to Lansing and put into hospice. He actually worked for two different departments. There was at least one guy from one or both department's with him in hospice the whole time.
  His son Andrew was also part-time with us and full-time with the other department. They were kind of like family. Andrew is my neice Karly's brother, and Joe was like a father/uncle to her. Speaking of family, you never realize how close the firefighter family is until something like this happens. We all worked together to help the family, and help out with the funeral. It was really nice to be able to help like that. We even had other firefighters from some other departments there, even one from Detroit.
  Both depatments had all the emergency vehicles in the procession, and it was a long procession! We had other departments cover the stations incase a call came in.
  Joe will be greatly missed!
Joe & his son Andrew
Our Chief at the church.
Casket Bearers (from both dept's) preparing for placing the casket on the bed of the truck.
Enroute to the cemetary.
There were police blocking major intersections.
At the entrance to the cemetary
It was a beautiful day, and everything went very well. I couldn't beleive all the people standing at the side of the road on our way to the cemetary, some of them were even saying they were sorry.
All my love to the family.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

wow - what an awesome tribute. I have been thinking of you guys a lot these past few weeks. Ironically...our newspaper ran a big story on firefighters and cancer the past two weeks and the high rates they are seeing....seems to be a very sad reality...

Lisa T said...

Wow, what a funeral. It is great to see how much a coworker can become family, and how all of you honor that brother, or sister, for all their hard work.

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