Shortly after I woke this morning, I was standing in my kitchen making coffee and preparing to make the usual Sunday morning big breakfast, when I heard the ever-familiar tones of my husband's and son's pagers.

As a wife and mother of firefighters - and as the city's emergency management director - I know there is no guarantee of a quiet Sunday morning.

A few minutes later, my shirtless firefighter son - who is now working to become a paramedic - came running up the stairs,…

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I was browsing some topics on this forum, and came across one about how to handle negative newspaper editorials.

I thought, "Wow! A topic I am uniquely qualified to comment on on this forum!"

Okay, okay, I know it was presented as a question a year ago, but it's ALWAYS a relevant topic.

I started writing my response, but it became a HUGE response... so I decided that I would just make it a blog.

Now, to explain why I feel uniquely qualified to comment on the topic: I am the… Continue

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to chat with an old friend about the upcoming elections and voting.

I confessed over a latte to being a political junkie.

She confessed to not being a political junkie.

“I hate politics,” she said. “Things in our country are a mess! I don't even vote.”

I tried to shame her into taking an interest in politics by explaining how it's these people who make all the decisions that directly affect her and her family. But, to no avail.

As we… Continue

(This is a reprint of a column I wrote last year, which appeared in my newspaper. It won me first place at the newspaper association contest. Someone on this site came across it online and asked me to reprint it, since it holds my copyright. ALWAYS happy to give props to you emergency/fire service peeps out there.)



" 'They' Are Volunteers and 'They' Answer the Call"

Last week, I was stopped in the grocery store by a woman who wanted me to “write something” for her.

She said… Continue

"Thank you," an elderly woman in a wheelchair said to me today, as I was reaching for her dirty plate at the community Thanksgiving dinner.

I smiled and asked if she needed a refill on her coffee, as I tossed the styrofoam plate into the garbage can I was rolling around the noisy school cafeteria.

She nodded, tears filling her eyes, as her shaking hand held up her stryofoam cup to me.

I took the cup to the coffee urn and filled it, then carried it back to her, nodding at my… Continue

It's midnight and I'm home alone ... again.

Only 30 minutes ago, we had climbed into bed together. We were both tired after a long day at work. He's spent 12 hours at his "other job" as a contractor building homes and I've spent a long day at the newspaper, dealing with the endless dramas there.

I had just snuggled into his arms, letting myself enjoy the cool summer air blowing through an open window. Country living has its benefits, and hearing only the crickets outside was one of… Continue

A week ago, I was sitting in the newspaper office doing what we editors do, when the emergency scanner squawked to life. We have a small county and all emergency calls go through the same dispatch and get broadcast to everyone else.

I'm usually only concerned with the calls from the five emergency departments in my readership/circulation area, but it's still interesting to hear what the various departments around the county are dealing with. Of course, as the team captain for our county's… Continue

I had stepped outside when the first page came. When I came back inside, he was racing upstairs, pulling his t-shirt on and looking for shoes. He still had on the cartoon lounging pants we'd bought him for Christmas last year. He's 24 years old, 6'4 and 230 lbs, but he still spent weekends bumming around in Scooby Doo lounge pants and playing video games.

"What is it?" I asked, as he pulled his shoes on. The scanner near the fridge was silent.

"Don't know, they just said some code and… Continue