People I love: Chapter 2

From a very young age, I have loved and respected firefighters and those serving in the military. My grandmother was a volunteer firefighter and EMT, while one of my grandfathers served in the Marines in WWII. I also had an uncle who went to Vietnam. One of Christopher's grandfathers served in the military as well. I can remember visiting my grandparents house and gazing in wonderment at the photo of my grandmother on the back of a fire engine hanging on the wall. What a great lady, volunteering her time to save lives. The picture below is of her and her great granddaughter, Kayla!

As I've grown up, I have only gained more respect for those who risk their lives serving in the military and as firefighters. I am not a brave person. I cry at the sight of blood. I close my eyes during the fighting scenes in war movies. But I know people who ARE brave and I respect them a lot. My older brother, Scott, is a firefighter. We recently visited him in Virginia and went to his fire station with the girls. Kayla loves fire engines, fire equipment, and firemen. Somewhat surprisingly, she wasn't scared at all when one of my brother's co-workers put on his full outfit-mask and all. She loved it.

My brother, Scott. I'm so proud of you and grateful that you do what many others can't.

Christopher's brother, Patrick, is in the air force. We have been fortunate enough to be somewhat close to him as he is currently serving at Travis Air Force base. He recently returned from a 6-month deployment in Kuwait.

Thank you, Patrick, for your service to our great nation, and for risking your life to ensure the safety of your fellow countrymen. We're proud of you!

In honor of those in uniform and because Kayla is in love with fire hats, fire engines, and all things related, I took some sweet pictures of our girls in their junior fire hats given to us by Chris' co-worker, 'Auntie Kay' and her son, who is also a firefighter.

St. Martin de Tours was a soldier himself and thus is a patron saint of all soldiers. There is a story that says he met a beggar and cut his military cloak in half and gave it to the man. Later he had a dream in which Jesus was the beggar wearing his cloak.
St. Martin de Tours, pray for all those serving in the military!
St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters. His story of martyrdom is a gruesome one including things like being set on fire, and thrown into the sea with a stone tied around his neck. Clearly, a very brave Saint was chosen to be the patron of all our firefighters. Yikes.
St. Florian, pray for all those who serve as firefighters and emergency responders.