In lieu of putting on Marc Derrows wall, I want to publicly say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Marc on my page. Many of you have no idea who Marc is, but he was one of my first EMS Directors when I started with Cedar Lake EMS. I was a young 18 year-old kid who wanted to save the world and many times, Marc had to reel me back in and slow me down a bit. Between Marc and Ruthi Schmitt, Chuck Kouder Sr, Daniel Beckers wife (Diana), Paul Zimmerman and a few select group of others, I had some awesome mentors in my young life. -- This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions for myself and Im sure I speak for Skyler Nickoll as well. I cant say Ive gotten here without some mistakes along the way. Yes, Ive done some dumb things in life I regret, but I think we all have moments in our lives that we look back on and ask, What were you thinking? Unfortunately, I had a period in my life where I strayed away from the church and those were also the not-so-positive times in my life. As I close out this National EMS Week, I do as I usually do, and I reflect back and what is now over a 26 year career (that now includes fire and emergency management aspects of public safety) and I think of where I am at now but, more importantly, I look back and where Ive been. Even more importantly, where/who I was in the beginning. The individuals listed above helped mentor me in the beginning and along the way people like Daniel Smith, Matthew Weber, Brian Brauer, Greg Abbott, and others have helped guide me onto straighter paths. Im far from giving up public safety and, while I have no idea WHERE I want to be, I know what I WANT to do and I admire people like John M. Buckman III, John Shafer, Bill J. Hufford, Adam Groupe, Lee Turpen, Lori Utter Postma, and Glenn Beck who not only reach and influence so many lives but they educate us to be better people both within and outside of our public safety professions. I love being an educator and hope I can continue to positively influence lives as I have in the past and as these people do on a daily basis. So, Happy Birthday Marc, THANK YOU to everyone who has believed in me in the past and continue to do so, and if I left someone out, I apologize. Im sure I have missed someone and I might tag in you comments below. Thank you to everyone who has sent me an email, tagged me in a post, shared a link on my wall or sent me a text message over the past 3 days. Ive been overwhelmed by the incredible number of people out there supporting my career choice. I still plan on responding to everyone of you who may have messaged me so be patient with me please. God Bless You ALL for being there in the beginning and/or supporting me along the way. I cant wait to see what the next 26 years bring!!
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 03:00:32 +0000
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