Well Ladies and Gents, I know I have been missing the past week and a half!All is good, no worries! I had a death in the family, My Great Uncle and had a chance to celebrate his life by dedicating my time, as he would always tell me to do, to My Fire Department!I spent the last five days literally living at the firehouse morning and night restoring, cleaning, polishing, re-organizing- all of the equipment! Anyone who wants to see how much that is I will send you a picture!Since I did all this work, and I had no idea, every year our firehouses in the district I live in, we have three fire houses two engine and one Hook and Ladder where I am stationed, have a competition for Memorial Day ! Best house wins a dinner all expenses payed for that company!On Friday my Chief comes to me and says Hey Probie you do all this, I said yes and he said you know the entire company had a work detail on Saturday and Sunday to all of this!I said no I didn't, Chief then says- great job, hope the guys can find something to spruce up!Long story short we Won!
Moral of the story is- Memorial Day for me this year wasn't just about the troops, but My Uncle and his legacy as a FireFighter, and truck detail artist! He was the last gold leaf truck painter on long island before the switch to decals! A week before he died, he reminded me of his coast guard days in WW2 and how he missed the firehouse smells, and he said this to me "Have pride in what you love, Love everything and everyone"