Found photos from my firefighting days...

Wow, it has been a while since I last saw these photos of my days at Delta Junction Volunteer Fire Department back in Alaska. You can just barely make me out: I'm the one kneeling while adjusting my helmet strap.I first became a firefighter/medic in this rural Interior town before moving to Fairbanks where I also joined Chena Goldstream Fire and Rescue. (I stayed on with Delta VFD for some time after that.) I volunteered while I studied geology at the University of Alaska. I've been gone 6 years but yeah... I still miss Alaska and the adventures I enjoyed there! :-)

The tarp is laid out, the gear is going on. We are quite excited as we prepare for a training fire!

I'm the one facing (glowering??) at the camera while speaking with my dear friend Chris. He was our Deputy Fire Chief and he worked hard at training us firefighters. A "big brother" to all of us, we were absolutely devastated when he later died in the line of duty on that cold March day. I will never forget when I returned to my Fairbanks fire station to find my Delta fire chief on the phone. He tried to break it as gently as he could, that Chris had been killed. But I still totally lost it and sank to the floor howling and bawling like a baby. Some things you just never forget...

We had the honor of escorting our friend to one of our fire trucks. His final ride on the rig, Chris was placed on the hose bed and driven three miles through the town of Delta to his final resting place. His funeral procession was miles long and made up of fire and medical rigs from all across the state of Alaska.

Loss is terrible and some memories are filled with pain. But I still maintain that a life that is not riddled with moments of suffering is a life half-lived without taking any of the risks that are necessary in order to fully enjoy our time here on Earth. I miss Chris and losing him was a blow that sent me reeling for months. Yet if I had never gone north and joined his department I would never have met him or all of the other wonderful people that blessed my life. And for that I shall be forever grateful no matter the scars that accompany the joy.