Personal Narrative Essay: Firefighters

I asked my mom “what’s wrong,” she replied with a sorrowful “your Aunt Lisa is in trouble, we must leave now.” The worst part of all of this was my Aunt Lisa’s son was with us, Matthew. He did not know what to think or believe. No one knew the world would slowly start shattering beneath all of us that morning. We drove to her house, we saw ambulances and police cars driving by, that did not help our nerves at all. We finally arrived at her apartment, we never thought all of those emergency vehicles would be going there. My brother and I stay in the car since I was only eight and he was only eleven. My mom and cousin run into the apartment hoping to only find my Aunt had fallen and is unconscious, or she is passed out drunk, just let it be something that is not permanent. What they come to find is that my Aunt is laying on the floor, unconscious, but cold as ice. It was not from someone killing her, or us getting there too late. She had died twenty-four minutes before that phone

One month later my mom and I are standing in the living room playing with my little brother James when someone knocks on our door. My mom hustles to the door to see who it was. The person standing at the door introduced himself to us and said his name is Ted. Mother asked him why he was here and he said, “I’m sorry to tell you this but we got a report that your husband and son died at war.” At that moment all my hope was lost, and it felt like my life was over and it hasn’t even begun. My mom fell to her knees and started bawling her eyes out. I rushed down there to comfort her, and we just sat there for a little bit in the agony of knowing that part of our lives is gone and we have no choice about it.

It will mean 9 12 months of IV infusions, physical rehab, tests and expensive medications to repair the physical stress his body has endured over all these years. The doctors in L.A. are hopeful the new treatment will heal much of the damage and ensure quality of life again. He can put back on the 45 lbs he’s lost and gradually get back to work.

One cloudy evening in 1995, there was a family that awaits at Disney World for a week off so they can spend more time with each other. Jonnie is a fearsome firefighter that loves his family dearly. Susan, Jonnie's sweet wife, is always with Emily Jonnie's and Susan's beautiful daughter.

Being a volunteer firefighter was something I was born into, it is present through generations of my family. I started helping at our volunteer company, Lake Meade Fire and Rescue, when I was five years old. Of course I was not fighting any fires at that age, but I did help around the station with stocking the soda fridge, sorting the laundry, and other simple tasks. As I grew older, I began to do more around the station, helping with fundraisers, washing the trucks, and starting to learn a little more about the actual firefighting that takes place. Eventually after some training, I was able to run calls. I have responded on calls including rolled vehicle accidents, snow collapsed roofs, hemorrhaging patients, house fires, hay fires, and

I could not walk near the window. That was a rule, because they were afraid that I would fall out of the window. On one of these walks, mom started by saying “You probably want to know the fire about the fire, right?” I pushed the oxygen tank ahead of me which was my way of saying yes without speaking. Mom understood and started telling the story: how the fire started, where exactly it started, the normal stuff. I had been wondering why dad had not visited me, and now I know. Dad was dead. He died while saving me. He threw me out of our burning house. But just as it happened a burning section of the wall caved in on him so he had do escape. No more building projects, jokes at the dinner table, or Dad at football games. The firefighters found his body, resting against me in his office. He knew that he needed oxygen, but he let me live by not taking the oxygen and giving it to me. I felt the sting. I killed my

It was September 28, 2009, and I was on my way to Ocoee Middle School. My cousin, who I was close with at the time, gets on the bus and asks me “ So you found out what happen?” I looked at her all confused and said to her “ What are you talking about?” She had said to me that, my grandfather had passed the day before. My cousin looked at me like expecting me to cry, but in that moment all I could say to myself was I didn’t get to say goodbye. My cousin in that moment started to regret telling me, but I had reassured her that I was happy that she had told me. I got to school and went throughout my first three periods feeling nothing but emptiness and as if a part of me was gone. As I walked into my fourth period class it seemed as if those emotions

We can be a hero. We can be a firefighter. We can be a book maker. We can be a movie maker. We can be a doctor. We can be a construction worker. We can be a toy maker. We can be a garbageman. We can be an astronaut.

One day, on a crisp summer evening, my two brothers had visited from sebring.My mother had told us to sit down on the couch and thats what we did. I knew something was wrong when my brothers looked at me worriedly...Logan started crying and I got really worried, then my mom began with the words “Olivia, I know you don't want to hear this but, i’m diagnosed with cancer”....she explained how she was diagnosed with it, she had a lot of tumors and a lump in her throat, I didn't believe this, my life had changed forever at that moment, I thought to myself, how was i going to cope with this? The change would be hard but maybe it will bring something good hopefully

I woke up after, what felt like, 4 hours of sleep. I regretted not going to bed at a decent hour the night before, because as soon as my alarm went off, I instantly wanted to hit the snooze button. I headed out the door, a quarter after 6 AM, and with the dark skies and chilly breeze, it really had me frazzled on how it was supposed to turn out to be a “beautiful” day. As I headed North on 35W, I arrived at the fire station, in Minneapolis, around 7:45 AM. I called Firemen Kevin Taaffe from my car. Kevin has been a family friend of ours since I was born, he used to babysit me and now in return I babysit his children. He met me in the lobby outside of the secured doors of the station and within minutes,

My brother was walking towards us and without a seat left, he hopped into the old ski-boat and sat down. He had a confused look on his face but that turned to anger when my dad said “We’re talking to Carlyn about what I told you yesterday.” With a face as red as his hair, he stood up and screamed “You guys are ruining my life.” I had never seen my brother like this. He was always happy, he even had the nickname “happy Pappy.” He was crying from sadness but still screaming with anger. This made my mom’s cry louder and mine begin. My dad stood up in attempts to calm down my brother and I ran over to my mom. I wrapped my arms around her as she gave me a big hug, and told me “everything is going to be alright, everything is going to be alright, everything is going to be alright.”

Firefighting, A job/occupation that started in ancient Rome under the rule of Augustus. Firefighting is not a job people can just do, it’s hard work and takes the right mind and the right person to be able to succeed at firefighting and to make a living from it. There are jobs that one person can be good at, but even if it is more than one job, firefighting, along with law enforcement and military takes a special person and a special mind to do this job and it will be that way forever. Without further ado, the background of firefighting is waiting to set flames.

“Hey we need to talk.” my mother said as we just got done cleaning the kitchen on the saturday before we were going to leave. It was December the 19, 2015 when mom told us that my Grandpa had cancer. While we were sitting at the table me and my sister started to cry. Mom said “But just don't bring it up while we are down there please he doesn't need the stress.” We both said ok and carried on with the day. That Monday we got up early in the morning and packed up the car and Jonathan wanted to take his remote control monster truck that he got on christmas and I told him “we don't have any room for that” And mom said “let him take it this could be the last time he could spend time with him.”

When Conley went over to Rafael’s house to play a game things went from imaginary to reality real quick. Rafael and Conley was supposed to play a game but things got out of hand. They were playing a game called firefighter and make believing that real firemen and they had to do was put out “fake” fires. While they were playing the game Rafael yelled Fire! Fire! As a joke. And Conley fell for it, so when Rafael said it again this time it wasn’t a joke it was for real. But Conley said he’s not falling for it. Suddenly Conley felt some head against his back and he saw a real fire happening right in front of him. They were just playing a game and then a fire starts out of nowhere.

By the time we arrived to the hospital I had enough time to say “I love you grandpa”. He went into surgery we were all waiting for my grandpa in the waiting room hoping for the best. The doctor came out to the waiting room and notified us he was out of surgery. They had put him back into his room they told us he would wake up in a couple hours. My father stayed inside with my grandpa, hours went by he still hadn’t woken up. It started to worry the family so my father went to talk to the nurse and the nurse said he should have woken up by now. Nurses and doctors came rushing into the room hooking my grandpa up to machines. The doctor order the nurse to kick my father out of the room. The doctor came out explained to us that they’re running test but they think he is in coma. The family was in tears, and speechless. Days went by, I stopped going to summer school because I begged my parents to let me go to the hospital everyday. I wasn’t allowed into my grandpa’s room I had to be sixteen or older but they allowed it this time. The entire family went into the room they started praying, everybody was crying. I gave him a hug and a kiss I whispered into his ear “I love you grandpa get better soon” not knowing it was going to be my last time saying those words to him. When we all left his room they discharged him and declared him for brain dead. When I got the news I was devastated, my sister Geraldine had to