I wrote a letter to someone I don't know

I wrote a letter this evening to someone I don't know.   Actually I probably do know him on sight, I just have never put a name with the face.  He is a firefighter on a neighboring department. He responded to a bad accident last night where my understanding is all he could do was hold the hand of a high school girl until the end.

He isn't taking it very well.

He posted on Facebook "after tonight take my radio my pager firedept im done!!"

I've pondered on that all day.  This evening I wrote him.  I decided to share it here on the off chance someone else might stumble across it that needs to hear this:

I wasn't at the wreck and I don't know all the details.  But I saw your comment on Facebook.  Let me ask you a couple questions you have probably been asking yourself:

Why did you become a firefighter?  If you can't save everyone why go through it all?

I don't know why you started.  But I can tell you why you should stay.  Because you are making a difference.  It may not seem like it, especially after a run like this where despite doing all you can do it seems you lose. But you did everything you could do at the time.

You can't, absolutely cannot, win every time.  But if what you do lets us win one time it is worth it. So we train and we practice and we gain skills in the hope that one time we can make a difference.

Even this time you made a difference.  It may not seem like it now, but trust me, you made a difference.

I went through First Responder this winter.  My first time I was first on scene at an incident where the victim was probably gone before he hit the ground.   I couldn't do a thing for the victim.  But I did something for his family.  I let them know someone cared enough to drop what they were doing to respond to their need.   That everything possible was done.

You are making a difference and you will probably never know what it is. Perhaps it is causing someone else to do something.  Perhaps it is inspiring someone else to make the first step toward Firefighter or First Responder or Paramedic.   I don't know and neither will you.

But I am convinced despite the heartache and pain and frustration that you are making a difference now and are going to make a difference in the future.

Your community needs you.  And despite it all, you need to continue for yourself.  So when the worst happens you can look yourself in the mirror the next day and say "I did everything I could do."

This isn't like being on a ball team. There is no tournament.  Doing what we do, if we can win one time, just once, we win it all.

Keep fighting.

It's March ... "It's ONLY March" ... "It's MARCH already!"

I keep telling myself "It's March"  Sometimes that is "It's ONLY March" and other times it is "It's MARCH already!"  Just in case you have been cooped up in an underground missile silo someplace the weather has been just incredible.  Warm (hot at times), sunshine, really nice.  Really early. Actually kind of scary.  And very, VERY tempting to a farmer to go plant corn. But we have mowed all the yards already. Not necessarily grass, mostly chickweed, but they have been mowed once in March.

I need to get out and take a few flower photos.  I'll borrow some my friend David Schwartzkopf took recently.

  There has been some corn planted for about a week in the area.  In fact the new neighbor across the road blew in yesterday and planted 60 acres or so.  I keep telling myself we need to wait until .. . well, we're up to what this year is Easter weekend.  Dad never planted corn much before the 25th of April.  Ivan didn't want us planting corn until May 10.

The different emphasis on "It is March" depends on perspective.  As I told someone we started the year out two weeks behind and have progressed to being 4 weeks behind ... and Spring is a month early.

A pretty nice restaurant

I find interesting things traveling.  We were in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin and stopped at a pretty nice family restaurant. Carpeted dining room.  Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, very nice furnishings.

Very extensive menu. Breakfast to Sirloin steaks.

I had fire roasted Tallapia.

Sue has stuffed ... salmon I think.

They were advertising corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's day

I don't know wines, but it looked like a nice selection.

Excellent service.

Some really nice looking deserts.

Not bad for a building that once was a Hardees

Driving and thinking and talking

We went on a road trip this week to meet our new grandson.  So how do you use a 6 hour road trip?  The first thing is get a head set for your cell phone.  I have a Blue Parrot headset and am very pleased.

We've been talking about trading tractors.  I'm committed to putting auto steer on the planting tractor, but if I can trade tractors I can save a few thousand on that.

I talked with 2 different salesmen on the way to Madison.  Got a phone call from a guy in Alabma.  He bought the semi trailer I had for sale.

It was an interesting trip.

Oh ....