WE ARE HEROES WE ARE FIREFIGHTERS a Christmas Story, by Darrell Grober Many years ago on Christmas Eve I was a new fire department officer with dreams of saving the world.I was a hero I was a firefighter. We received a call for smoke in a house and we quickly responded with two engines. We were all pumped up we were excited.This is what Christmas is all about,lights, sirens, air horns blasting through the cold night air announcing to the town, we are heroes we are firefighters we are coming to save the world. We arrived on scene to find no fire just a small wood frame house with lots of interesting yard art made from old shovels hoes and other old discarded metal tools welded to form the shapes of animals, birds, scarecrows,flowers and such. We were greeted at the door by a little old lady who thanked us for coming out on such a cold Christmas Eve. She explained that she had smelled smoke and even though it was probably nothing she was worried and wanted us to check it out. We checked every inch of her small house but were unable to smell smoke or find a problem of any kind. We assured the old woman everything was ok. She thanked us and apologized for calling us out for no reason and invited us to stay and have some hot coffee and freshly baked cookies. We graciously declined her offer and told her to not hesitate to call should she smell smoke again. I was thinking to myself we have to hurry and go because we are firefighters, we are heroes, we are here to save the world and we dont want to miss an important call. We returned to the station only to be called out a short time later to the same house on North Houston Street for the smell of smoke. We quickly responded again with lights and sirens and air horns blasting in the cold night air announcing with a loud echo as we entered the Granbury town square, here we come we are firefighters we are heroes we are on our way to save the world. We arrived and were greeted again by the same little old lady who thanked us for coming and explained that she smelled smoke again. We searched the house for the second time with the same results, no smoke, no fire. The lady again thanked us, apologized and again offered us hot coffee and freshly baked cookies. We again rejected her offer and told her again this time with a little less enthusiasm than the first we told her if she should smell smoke again to call. We left a little annoyed by being called out again because after all we are firefighters we are heroes we are here to save the world with no time to waste on nothing calls. We returned again to the station and fueled up our engines to be ready for the next call because after all we are firefighters we are heroes we are here to save the world. An hour or so later we got the third call “Possible structure fire on North Houston Street with smell of smoke”. With some grumbling and a bit of complaining we again put on our gear jumped on the engine and off we went, firefighters,heroes off to save the world. Into the cold night air (AGAIN) with lights and sirens and air horns blasting. We arrived again at the now all too familiar sight of that small wood frame house with that same so called metal yard art and the same old woman waiting. While the rest of the crew went in I stayed outside because after all this was a too trivial call for me an officer a firefighter a hero and all. As I waited outside the gate a couple from down the street came up and inquired about all the commotion. I assured the couple that there was no cause for concern it’s just an old woman who keeps imagining the smell of smoke.The couple said they had been concerned because they had heard that the womans husband had died just a short time ago. Suddenly my heart was softened and a tear came to my eye as I asked myself how could I as a Christian have been so blind as not to see the Lord had sent us out on this cold dark night not to be firefighters and heroes but to bring comfort to this sweet lonely little old lady on Christmas Eve. I rushed to the door just as the other firefighters were about to go through the same ritual as before. I pulled them aside and quickly relayed what I had been told and we went back to the door.We all then knew the real reason we were there. We wished the nice lady merry Christmas and told her again to please not hesitate to call if she needed anything. She thanked us and invited again to have a cup of hot coffee and homemade cookies. How could we refuse this nice lady’s offer on this cold Christmas Eve the night we remember our true hero and celebrate the night he was born as a baby to be the savior of the world. The one whose arrival was not announced by lights and sirens and air horns blasting but by Angels singing and trumpets sounding announcing to poor shepherds unto you this night Jesus Christ the Savior is born. We noticed the warmth as we entered her house a warmth that we felt on our bodies and in our hearts and the aroma of coffee brewing and freshly baked cookies. We sat with her at a small kitchen table and listened and smiled as she told us stories about her husband the welder and the wonderful sculptures he made her over the years and the joys they had shared. We talked we listened and laughed we loved the time spent with her we brought her company she brightened our night. After some time we thanked her for the hot coffee wonderful cookies and reluctantly told her we had to leave. We asked her sincerely to please call again if there was anything she needed. She hugged us and wished us merry Christmas and assured us everything was alright. We climbed in our back in our engine feeling the joy of Christmas and being thoroughly blessed. I picked up the radio microphone and cleared the scene with Dispatch saying with joy in my heart “MERRY CHRISTMAS Hood County this is Engine 3 will be clear of North Houston Street Merry Christmas ” to which she replied “10-4 Engine 3 MERRY CHRISTMAS and have a good night”. Luke 2:11 MERRY CHRISTMAS! Darrell Grober, Chief Granbury Vol. Fire Dept
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 22:58:53 +0000
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