A moment of seriousness

I promised to have a blog entry dedicated to David and Josh for their birthdays. That is partially true and I will at least give them a bit :)

Birthday boy #1
David. Nice guy. I like him a lot. I couldn't imagine a better match for Brenda in creativity, brains and spirit. I wish we were all closer so I could get to know him better. I enjoy his stories and art when Brenda shares them with me. I wish she would share more!

Birthdy boy #2 (today)
Josh-kun. Josh I consider one of my two best friends. We don't get to spend a lot of time together, nor do we get a lot of time to talk seriously one on one. But that's part of what a best friend is...someone you don't have to do that with yet you can still pick up where you left off the last time you did. I don't have to have deep conversations with Josh to know him, yet he's still a mystery to me. We live in totally seperate worlds but when I talk to him it's like there is no distance between us. Love you Josh :)

And the real seriousness? In rememberance of 9/11 (which by the way is extremely hard to explain to an almost 5- year old) I can honestly say i have the highest appreciation for all firefighters and rescue workers. Having seen my parents in that line of work most of my life, from volunteer firefighters to mine rescue team captains and the like, I can also say I know what it entails. In the spirit of being prepared and properly trained, I even embarked on my own journey of rescue classes. I learned that, though I feel slightly more confident about emergency situations, I would never, could never be, any kind of resource other than being able to do what i'm told. Days like today in rememberance of the most horrible event in my lifetime make me stop and appreciate and thanks those that can handle the pressure and those that have survived it. Josh, who obviously is not particularly talkative about it, was there and witnessed it first hand. I can't even imagine what it was like, nor do I want to. I don't think I could have walked away with my sanity in tact, being as oversensitive as I am - but Josh did and I admire that.
My parents, my dad in particular have always shown an amazing ability to be in control of the situation and take care of things. More than once (many more) i have watched them react in ways I could only dream of. The ability to jump right in and know what needs to be done (and do it) is a special gift that I can only trust in. It's not easy, I've seen it and tried it, to make order out chaos and save people's lives (or just care for them) is a true blessing. And if anyone has ever wondered about why I love Walter as I do, know that he's one of those people that can do it. I've seen that same reaction from him several time, though never in so critical a situation. It's that trust you have in someone of your life.

So to those who can and do - I applaud you, I love you, and I thank you.

And now let us remember the cute and furry to lighten things up a bit: