Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
I’m still in bed but well on the road to recovery. Hopefully, tomorrow; I’ll be close to 90% and able to move around some. Friday, I should be back on the job. Thanks again for all the e-mails, texts etc with “get well” wishes … I told ya all that I was tougher than I look….LOL.
So anyway, when I woke up this morning; my mind wasn’t on being ill or all the things I should be catching up on around the house / farm. My mind was somewhere else … in a stairwell … in multiple stairwells actually.
I have several of the names and faces of the 343 fallen hanging on my dresser mirror by my bed. These are some of the badges I’ve carried during my 5 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs. I see them EVERY morning that I wake up at home.
Every morning I see these faces, my thoughts go back to that day and the great acts that these men carried out.
I think about the strength and courage it must have taken to pick up their tools and start up those stairs. The Pride and Honor these men carried inspires me daily.
I have reminders everywhere … I still carry the tags from my first climb in my first out gear…..I WILL NOT FORGET.
So, my mind was in those NYC stairwells. It quickly turned to a stairwell in Washington DC.
You see, there were many Brothers and Sisters who took to the stairwells this morning at 08:30 inside the Washington Hilton. They were participating in yet another 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb during the 24th Annual National and Emergency Services Dinner and Seminars Program. The event is co-sponsored by the Congressional Fire Services Institute and The National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation.
If you don’t know already, these events are held throughout the year, all across the Country.
If you haven’t participated in one … YOU SHOULD.
Learn more about 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs
You can find a climb near you or learn how to organize your own by using the link above. If you can’t climb .. REGISTER. Someone will carry a name / picture on your behalf .
The money is much needed and put to good use. Rhett and I heard it for ourselves directly from FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano . True to the NFFF standards, the money raised from these events supports the survivors. It helps fund the FDNY Counseling Unit.
I couldn’t be in DC this morning as bad as I wanted to. I know several Brothers and Sisters who were and know we were represented well. I hope they found what Rhett and I have inside that stairwell during our climbs. It’s something we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
For those who made the climb this morning … WELL DONE!
I posted this link to a previous post of my a day or so ago… if you didn’t hit it then … DO IT NOW. Even though I wrote it, it’s a good piece that kind of sums it up for those of us on the job ….
Read “We are ALL climbing”
Stay SAFE and in House!
Captain Wines