Altruism is rare these days, it seems. So, when I’m faced with those who devote their time to the good of the world around them so freely, it warms my heart, and I am humbled.
This week, I had the opportunity to meet with some of our local fire-fighters in a one-on-one setting, and I found that for the first time, in a long time, I had reason to feel this way.
It’s so easy to lose faith in humanity and the world around us. Everyday, I see something on the news that will quite literally make my stomach turn. Be it the atrocities of war, the murder of children — senseless death in all its ugly glory dominates what we see and hear, and I admit that I am scared.
And while I find these things frightening, they are not what terrifies me most. It is that we, as a society, have become so anesthetized to it, we don’t even notice anymore. It scares me to think that I’m just as unfeeling as those who commit these crimes in my apathy.
It makes you stop and wonder if there’s anything worthwhile in the world, after all.
And then you meet people like this who remind you that humanity is more than just a commodity.
I never realized just what your average volunteer fire-fighter endures, the amount of training and knowledge that goes into a single unit. The time spent refining that unit in hopes of making our communities a safer place and protecting not just our lives, but oftentimes, our livelihood.
They offer that time freely and without reservation simply because they want to.
It’s nobility at its finest.
After sitting down and talking with them just a bit, I realize how much we take them for granted. At least, I did, and I’m certain I’m not the only one.
Ricky Sirls, the newly appointed chief of the Aurora-Ross station highlighted in this week’s edition of the Tribune-Courier, had a very valid point I think we should all consider. People really have gone and gotten themselves in too big a hurry.
When was the last time you went out of your way to help another? When was the last time you stopped to think about and express gratitude to the help you’ve been given?
A fireman is at once the most fortunate and the least fortunate of men.
He doesn’t preach the brotherhood of man.
He lives it.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Stranger than fiction
"Woman ends two-year toilet stay!" Or so the headline read.
...I'm just not even sure what there is to say about that.
At first, I thought it was some sort of odd play on words, but no, it actually is as it reads. Some woman in Kansas actually sat on her boyfriend's toilet for over two years before he actually thought to call someone about it.
Two years! Until her skin had started to grow into the lid. When police came to investigate, they had to pry the top off of the toilet so they could get her to the hospital to have it removed.
And now they're considering charges against this boyfriend. Honestly, let's think about this for just a minute. These people can't be of the sharpest mental capacity. And he actually did take care of her in that time — brought her food and water everyday and begged her to come out, so it's not like anyone was really hurt. Are charges really necessary here?
Sounds like a waste of taxpayer dollars to me. Either way, the whole thing is just plain bizarre.
Oh well, I suppose the truth really is stranger than fiction.
...I'm just not even sure what there is to say about that.
At first, I thought it was some sort of odd play on words, but no, it actually is as it reads. Some woman in Kansas actually sat on her boyfriend's toilet for over two years before he actually thought to call someone about it.
Two years! Until her skin had started to grow into the lid. When police came to investigate, they had to pry the top off of the toilet so they could get her to the hospital to have it removed.
And now they're considering charges against this boyfriend. Honestly, let's think about this for just a minute. These people can't be of the sharpest mental capacity. And he actually did take care of her in that time — brought her food and water everyday and begged her to come out, so it's not like anyone was really hurt. Are charges really necessary here?
Sounds like a waste of taxpayer dollars to me. Either way, the whole thing is just plain bizarre.
Oh well, I suppose the truth really is stranger than fiction.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Nonsensical nothings: Lesson one
You know, I've been racking my brain about blog topics for the last two weeks to no avail. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I run my mouth enough that you'd think I could find something to blog about.
So, in place of any witty commentary on absolutely nothing, I'm just going to offer bits of sound advice (though why I don't know, no one ever listens to my advice anyway no matter HOW good ^_^) and general nonsense on a semi-daily basis until this must tell blog works its happy little way out of my head.
Lesson number one: Never trust a smiling dog.
There are, after all, teeth involved in there somewhere.
So, in place of any witty commentary on absolutely nothing, I'm just going to offer bits of sound advice (though why I don't know, no one ever listens to my advice anyway no matter HOW good ^_^) and general nonsense on a semi-daily basis until this must tell blog works its happy little way out of my head.
Lesson number one: Never trust a smiling dog.
There are, after all, teeth involved in there somewhere.
Monday, March 3, 2008
A wake-up call
A couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to cover a story on the non-profit organization Easter Seals. The adult day care center provides services for adults ages 16 to 93 years old. I have walked into many hospitals and nursing homes feeling slightly uncomfortable but virtually unaffected, this wasn't the case when I finished my report on the Easter Seals organization. From day 1 I had grown to like both the nurses and patients that spent their time at the center five days a week but it wasn't until I went to take pictures of the patients that I felt the true impact the center would have on me.
I have always been told that your life can change in a second, no matter your age. And as much as I would like to think that I have always thought that, not once considering that I was above any force that could alter my life, it wasn't until last week that I honestly felt it in every inch of my soul. On the last Friday in February I visited the patients at the Easter Seals program to get some pictures of them scrap booking, an activity that they do twice a week. Being the scrap booker that I am, I saw this an opportunity to get a good picture while enjoying the activity and company of the patients.
By the time I got to the Easter Seals location there were only two patients there, the rest had gone home for the evening. I took a few shots of Mrs. Wilma while a nurse was helping Betsy, a 24-year-old who is quadriplegic and suffers from a brain stem injury. Most of the photos they were putting in their scrapbook were moments that the patients had spent at the adult day care center. After talking with Nurse Nicole about Betsy's condition, she showed me photos of Betsy, before her car crash that left her in her current state.
The photos weren't unusual, they were of an 18-year-old girl with blonde hair and bright eyes making goofy faces on a child's playground. The photos were sweet and kind not unlike many of the photos I have in my albums and scrapbooks. The only difference between Betsy and I is that at 18 she was in a car crash that left her quadriplegic. Betsy was my age when her life was changed forever and the honesty of the fact and what it means, was almost to real for me to bare.
It is hard to believe that I could find myself in Betsy's shoes but what would make me so invincible, so lucky even that a freak accident couldn't put me in the same position?
For me, Betsy was a wake-up call and a slap in the face saying who do you think you are.
I have always been told that your life can change in a second, no matter your age. And as much as I would like to think that I have always thought that, not once considering that I was above any force that could alter my life, it wasn't until last week that I honestly felt it in every inch of my soul. On the last Friday in February I visited the patients at the Easter Seals program to get some pictures of them scrap booking, an activity that they do twice a week. Being the scrap booker that I am, I saw this an opportunity to get a good picture while enjoying the activity and company of the patients.
By the time I got to the Easter Seals location there were only two patients there, the rest had gone home for the evening. I took a few shots of Mrs. Wilma while a nurse was helping Betsy, a 24-year-old who is quadriplegic and suffers from a brain stem injury. Most of the photos they were putting in their scrapbook were moments that the patients had spent at the adult day care center. After talking with Nurse Nicole about Betsy's condition, she showed me photos of Betsy, before her car crash that left her in her current state.
The photos weren't unusual, they were of an 18-year-old girl with blonde hair and bright eyes making goofy faces on a child's playground. The photos were sweet and kind not unlike many of the photos I have in my albums and scrapbooks. The only difference between Betsy and I is that at 18 she was in a car crash that left her quadriplegic. Betsy was my age when her life was changed forever and the honesty of the fact and what it means, was almost to real for me to bare.
It is hard to believe that I could find myself in Betsy's shoes but what would make me so invincible, so lucky even that a freak accident couldn't put me in the same position?
For me, Betsy was a wake-up call and a slap in the face saying who do you think you are.
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