Braggin' On Him

About that whole volunteer fire & rescue thing...

The last year and a half or so has been quite a journey for Cliff, starting with his stint with the Franklin Citizens' Fire Academy, spring of 2010. July of last year, after having had his application in the system for a season, he was voted onto the Williamson County Rescue Squad - which serves as our county's sole force of fire and rescue (including medical, personal injury accidents, vehicle extrication, swift water rescue) service for county citizens living outside of a city's jurisdiction (which includes us, because we do not technically live within the City of Franklin, though we're merely a quarter-mile from it.) 

That means these men and women - volunteers - are trained to do everything a city's paid fire servicemen (and women) do, because a fire is a fire is a fire - though not spending nearly as much time in service, as they typically only respond to calls outside the timeframe of their "day-jobs".

Since last August, Cliff has completed a number of trainings - much like a course one would take over an entire semester. It's certainly put a damper on our weeknights being free, but I wouldn't trade any of that for the sense of purpose and duty it's driven him to feel and for the pride I get to feel watching him do something like this with his time. The two main certifications needed to be able to respond to every form and facet of call is the Fire Fighter I and Emergency Medical Responder certifications (the latter being formerly known as a First Responder). 

Cliff completed Fire Fighter I last Fall and we found out just this weekend, after a nail-biting week, that Cliff passed his EMR exam and now has only to complete his ambulance ride-alongs (hopefully before Virginia's arrival!) to be done and fully certified.

I don't know how he does it, but he does it all so well. I'm proud of you, babe.

He Did It!

Well what do you know, this guy went and got himself voted on the Williamson County Fire & Rescue Squad. Though he just finished Franklin Citizens' Fire Academy not too long ago, this process started well before then and we're excited to see it into the next phase. If you haven't read some about part of that journey, you are more than welcome to here.

I remember just last summer, us talking about an unmet need in his life to serve in a similar capacity. Since leaving West Point and serving small stints doing relief work in Indonesia, Sudan, and Haiti, I've watched Cliff struggle to pinpoint a place in his life in which he can regularly do that thing he doesn't know how to explain he needs to do. Which is to sacrifice a little bit of himself for the good of many others in ways that aren't necessarily the average. Not for show, not for a notch on his belt, but just because.

I love that about him, and yet find myself sometimes in a little bit of fear of it. But not a strong enough kind that causes me to want to tether him down to a safe and boxed life. We often muse over the oddity surrounding his departure from West Point and the multiple times Cliff has looked into returning to the military, be it considering ROTC in his latter days at Belmont or meeting with recruiters from the National Guard (just last year, mind you). In many ways, we believe that departure is the step in his path that brought us together, as much as it didn't make sense at the time.

And so as much as he has continued to long for some part of that kind of life, I have tried to pray and talk and believe myself into supporting at least his small steps into journeying towards that. This is his way, for now; one that I'm sure will prove to be unique, challenging, and a great deal rewarding. I am so, so proud.