From the time I was old enough to know what was happening on Christmas morning, my life has revolved around the fire service.

On Christmas morning 1971 I was 4 years old. Since most Christmas memories center around what we received that year, mine isnt like most peoples childhood memories.

Well...not including many on this board anyway. But I digress.

Christmas morning was exciting with the huge tree (maybe 5' with the star on top!) in our small mobile home that sat across the street from my Uncles home, like ours a mobile home.

Back in those days we didnt have pagers or tones what went off on our portable radios. We had a 50' tower in the center of town, with what could be described as an old air raid siren. If we had a grass fire the tone wailed twice, structure fire was four times and I cant recall the others. I do know if it went off a second time things were bad, and if it went off without ending there was a tornado coming (not an uncommon happening in Aledo).

So back to christmas morning. We were at my Uncle's house with my two cousins and my one year old sister when the siren went off. Of course both my Uncle and father kissed their wives, tussled our hair and said they would be back in a little bit.

I dont remember what time it was or haow long it took to figure out that they werent coming home anytime soon, but mom finally said we could open presents and of course for a little while we all forgot where our dads were. But, after a good hour or so...

I know they were gone most of the morning and again that evening on a rekindle. If memory serves, it was a christmas tree fire that kept all the men of that department busy helping others instead of home on Christmas day. The funny thing is I cant remember a christmas, thanksgiving or new years that wasnt punctuated with some kind of emergency. Thanksgiving in particular was notorious for a siren, fire phone or in later years a radio going off the minute we finished grace.

So...when my wife was flustered that this year; I was on shift for not only thanksgiving, but christmas, and if not for a Kelly, new years eve, I just shrugged and said "it's just part of it babe". Of course we had a great dinner with many families coming to the station today, and with that the ensuing craziness, but incredibly, no calls.

The crazy thing is, for most of us, career, or vollie it is "just part of the gig", we understand that fires dont take a day off, drivers dont magically figure out how to avoid that telephone pole 10' from the road, and that M I isnt going to wait till Christmas dinner is over to kick off in John Bob's chest.

Our spouses, fiances, significant others on the other hand have spent hours making a wonderful dinner for us, and probably spent weeks planning every detail. They arent quite as enthused about getting banged out for "a good one". While they signed up for the life when getting involved with us, the mindset is completely different.

Kids, well they either think its the greatest thing in the world that mom or dad is a firefighter, or are like my oldest and despise that their parent is in grave danger every time we roll out of the barn. Think about it, we roll on MVA's every day, sooner or later one of those idiots is gonna find an apparatus to run into...keep that in mind.

So where am I going with this?

I cant tell ya, I think the whole thing is just one big ADD moment, but maybe my point is, hug your kids, kiss the wife/husband, significant other, and remember, while this is just part of it, they need us too.

Merry Christmas, may it be safe and filled with joy.

Allen