Saturday will be the culmination of years and years of studying and practice for me. It is on this saturday, January 20th, 2007 that I will take the written entrance exam to become a New York City firefighter. My dream will finally, after years of painstaking preparation start to take shape. It has not always been an easy time, some times I have felt completely lost and desperate. During those times, i'm reminded of what Captain Timothy Stackpole once said.
Captain Stackpole was a firefighter in FDNY Division 11. In 1998 he was fighting a fire in Brooklyn when the floor gave way and he plunged 10 feet below, and was covered with burning debris. He was burned over 30 percent of his body, to the point where just the act of bending his legs caused extreme pain. His rehab was hard and long, and he could have easily retired with full benefits and then some.
He didn't. He came back to work, and when then fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen asked him why, Timmy simply said; "This is where I want to be." Captain Stackpole returned to work a few days before September 11th, and was killed that day.
If someone who suffered way more then they needed to can come back to the job because they love it that much, I damn well can get this job. Timothy's is one of hundreds of stories of the guys who didn't make it that day, and many of them have pushed through all sorts of adversity to reach their dream, and you better fucking believe I will too.
There's a sticker i've seen on a lot of the trucks and in the houses, and it says "FDNY: Still the greatest job on earth!" And I can't wait to be a part of that job. I know for a fact that it is not easy, and not always glorious, and there will be moments of absolute horror, but with them come moments of unimaginable pride. I want this more then anything I've ever wanted before, and nothing worth wanting ever came easy.
Tomorrow would have been my mom's birthday, and I know she would have wanted me to have this and i'm not just doing it to honor everyone in the city or in the FDNY, i'm doing this because I know how much she would want me to have it. And I know she would be proud of me.
Today I found out that NASCAR legend Benny Parsons lost his battle with lung cancer. I had the immense pleasure of meeting "BP", as he was affectionately called. I knew him, he, obviously didn't know me, yet he took the time to sit with me and just talk cars and racing for an hour. Me, a complete stranger, and him, a legend in his field. He treated me like he knew me, and I admired that, he was a down to earth man who kept true to his roots and what he loved. And to be honest, i will really miss him. He kept fighting till the very end, and I will too.