And life seems such a trial
Above the clouds there's a bright blue sky
So make your tears a smile
As you travel on life's way
With its many ups and downs
Remember its quite true to say
One smile is worth a dozens frowns
Among the worlds expensive things
A smile is very cheap
And when you give a smile away,
You get one back to keep
Happiness comes at times to all
But sadness comes unbidden
And sometimes a few tears must fall
Among the laughter hidden
So when friends have sadness on their face
And troubles round them piled
The world will seem a better place
And all because you smiled...
I wish you could know what it's like to search a burning bedroom for trapped children at 3 AM, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl across the floor.
I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning as I start CPR on her husband of 40 years, knowing intuitively it's too late, but wanting her to know I was going to do everything possible to try to save his life.
I wish you could know the smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear. The sound of flames crackling and the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke... sensations that I've become too familiar with.
I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a structure fire wondering,"Is this a working fire or a false alarm?", "How is the structure built?", "Is anyone trapped?", or to a call, "What's wrong with my patient?"
I wish you could be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five year old that I had been trying to save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never say the words, "I love you Mommy!" again.
I wish you could know the frustration I feel while responding to a call, tugging again and again at the air horn because you fail to yeild the right of way at an intersection or in traffic. However when you need us your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you long enough to get here!"
I wish you could know my thoughts as I extricate a teenage girl from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my daughter, my sister or wife...friend?" "How are her parents going to react when they open the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?"
I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the house and greet my parents, family, or friends and not having the heart to tell them that I nearly didn't come back from the last call.
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep or the forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
Unless you have lived this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what this job really means to us... I wish you could though.
