With that said, let me begin this post by acknowledging the
fact that countless jobs require us to work holidays. My career before having
children was in retail management. I know first-hand what it is like to be at
work wishing I was home with my family. Which is among the reasons I was
reluctant to begin this blog. I know there are far worse scenarios than my
husband having to work a 24-hour shift. I realize he could be stationed on the
other side of the world for months on end. I am the product of a single parent
household, so I also understand how fortunate I am to having a loving spouse
who is there to do this thing we call life together. However, I also am aware
of how quickly life can change and how my husband and all other first
responders put their lives on the line each and every day. For those of us who
are on the other side of that at home, the dreaded reality of what could be is
a thought not always easily suppressed. That is why I wanted to begin this
blog. If my family is trying to figure it all out, then I am certain we are not
alone. That has already been confirmed twice today. Once from a seasoned fire
wife and once from a new fire wife. So, here is to Heroes and Holidays.
If you ask any fire fighter or first responder that I know,
they will never call themselves a hero. That’s not a title they set out to
attain with their position. To them, they are just men and women with a job to
do. Yet, when they pull up to a burning house, rescue someone stuck inside a
car, or offer a listening ear in an intense moment—they become that person’s
hero. And to those of us so fortunate to call them family, those of us who see
the pain in their eyes when they did all they could for someone and it wasn’t
enough—they are our hero. So days like today when others are celebrating with
cookouts and family outings, it can make for a long day when your spouse or
significant other is on shift.
My husband’s very first fire shift was Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving was always a special holiday for us. My mother-in-law and most of
my husband’s siblings live several hours away. We are a large family so it is
hard to get everyone together. This was the one time of year that we knew we
could all be together. Fire Life changed that and all holidays to follow. For
us, there was no waiting around for the time that he would have to work a
holiday. That first year I believe we hit every holiday or the eve of every
holiday. We had a lot to learn!
Christmas was no exception. I think the first two years, my
husband worked Christmas Eve. That wasn’t too bad, but it still wasn’t the
same. I was used to Mr. Handsome helping me get everything just right the night
before and all of us waking up together Christmas morning. We are always last
minute getting presents wrapped. Let’s just say one Christmas Eve my husband
spent some down time wrapping presents at the station. I believe he also had to
put a bike together that first year. Our pictures show him still wearing his
fire department t-shirt because he came straight home from his shift and we
were all waiting for gift time.
My favorite and most crazy holiday adjustment was Miracle
2’s second Christmas. My husband had to work CHRISTMAS DAY! How in the world
were we going to pull this off??!! It was going to be the first year that she
really understood what was going on. We didn’t want to do Christmas on
Christmas Eve. Many people do and that’s cool. We just wanted to find a way to
stick to our tradition. My mother and sister always spend the night and we do
Christmas Eve fun together—cooking for Christmas day, decorating gingerbread
men, playing some games, whatever low-key things we can think of. Well, that
night we sent to daddy to bed a bit early. With my mom and sister’s help, we
took care of the final touches and grabbed a few short hours of sleep. Then, we
all woke up in the wee hours of the night to have Christmas so it would feel
like Christmas morning. My man went to work tired out I am sure, but the fact
that he was willing to make that sacrifice to keep a tradition and make Fire
Life work for us makes him all the more my hero!
We’ve made many other adjustments to our holiday routines including trips to the fire station with cookie cake, gift bags, and balloons so we could have a quick birthday celebration since Mr. Handsome’s birthday seems to consistently fall when he is on shift. We may or may not have shown up in the Wal-Mart parking lot with a birthday surprise once because it was his birthday and he was spending his shift in the heat of May collecting donations for Give Burns the Boot.
I think the key is finding ways to still celebrate the
holidays, the milestones, and all the other important events with the most
important people. Some holidays we will be fortunate to spend them with our
fire fighter. Other times we may have to do it early or later. Like today, my
husband had to work a side job. (That aspect of Fire Life is another whole
post.) Actually, he just got home. So we decided a few days ago that we’d do
our grilling at night and our girls could “Night Swim” in the pool. It might
not sound like anything special to you, but our two miracles have talked about
night swimming for days! They are excited and that makes it worth it all.
How does your family make Fire Life or any other Work Life
that interferes with holidays work?
