Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Life of a (Modern Day) Firewife

I suspect that the my life as a Firewife, in these times of tweety pages and bliggity blogs and facey spaces, may be different than my firewife predecessors.


My charming Firehubby is in frequent communication with me (and the rest of the world via his blog sidebar, twitter, facebook…) via cell phone. It’s nice to be in touch when he is gone for 24-72 hours at a time and is 75 miles away.


Often I get twitpics sent to my phone. This is interesting I must admit, but can be a bit unnerving at other times.


He sent me this twitpics a few days ago…

Interesting, yep.


But at the same time this can be a bit too much information for this firewife.


You see, I hate knowing when Firehubby is ACTUALLY on a call on our So. Cal. Freeways. These calls are equally dangerous, if not more so than a fire call.


If you have ever seen an accident on our freeways, you will have noticed an interesting phenomenon. That is, if you are in the opposite lanes of the accident, heading the opposite direction, EVERYONE will slow to about 2 to 5 miles per hour and take a turn checking out the action. Rubber necking. Gawkers block. Everyone else got to see it, go for it!


But, when one is driving directly past the accident, you know, in the next lane, it is best to go ahead and whiz by at a good 65 to 90 miles per hour. Those fire engines are just an annoyance. Hey, there are important places to go and people to see!!!


So for me, getting an “at-the-moment” message that Firehubby is in danger is not so great. You see, denial does serve me well.


If I don’t know about it…then, I don’t worry!


Blissful ignorance. Love it.


Here is another picture that was sent to me…

And another…

(just added these because I thought they were cool )


Now, I sometimes get telephone calls that go something like this…


“Hey babe, I’m rolling up to a huge fire. Turn on the news.”

Nice.


Those are the times that I distract myself by cleaning the house. (Never know when the fire chief is going to knock on the door with bad news.)


I know, I know that’s terrible. But, my protective “denial bubble” gets burst. It can be pretty fragile.


Well, what inspired me to write this post tonight?


Let me grab my phone and transcribe the text I just received at 09:43 pm …

“…on scene of assault…suspect still in house up street with guns…”


Comforting.


Then I laid my weary head down for bed, said a prayer for my sweet Firehubby, and tried to drift off to sleep… (oh yeah, that is after I blogged about it!)

28 comments:

Liz Mays said...

Unnerving to say the very least. Wow, I had no idea!

April said...

Julie~
I would be an absolute nervous wreck with all those messages and pictures being sent my way! It is easy, I'm sure, for your mind to go in all sorts of directions. Sometimes, I think it might be better to know nothing, at all. I'm sure what you have to do is turn it over to God and just know and believe that all will be well.

Morgan said...

Mmm hmmm. I never like the thought that my hubby is standing on the side of the highway during an accident either. My husband had an accident call a while back that took place where a highway was curving around for an overpass. All I remember about that accident is that it was a very unsafe place for anyone to be standing, let alone guys prying a car apart.

We don't have pic sending on our phones, but very interesting idea.

Beth in NC said...

Oh girl, I know how you feel. My husband was a volunteer fire captain for YEARS! I always knew when he was on a call because he was alerted by his pager (especially in the middle of the night). Those were the worst. I have left my house in the middle of the night when I've heard, "Fireman down" over the scanner. Yes, I have gone to the house fires, etc ...

So I totally understand.

At least you can cover your hubby in prayer while he is on the call. That part is great ... though like you, denial is much more comforting.

Love,
Beth

Meg said...

That would make me nuts...I would be so nervous all the time. I like the pics of the scene or the helicopter, but getting calls about crazy people with guns...I'll pass!

:) You are a trooper dealing with these antics day in and day out.

Mrs. M said...

Maybe he should just download a few stock pictures of a cute kitty cat stuck in a tree and instead of sending you that other stuff when he is on a major call he can just forget the real deal and send you one of those cute kitty pictures! ;-)

Mr. Daddy said...

AAAAaaaHHHhhhhhh!!!!
Denial, the sweet bliss of the uniformed...
Just so hard to maintain when married to an adrenaline junkie... LOL especially on who is TWITTER PATETED WITH YOU.. ROFL

Miranda said...

That would make a person a big ball of nerves! I do admire both of you for what you do. I can't imagine being a firewife knowing that your husband is out doing all of that. And he's so sweet to send pictures and notes. Thank you both!

Rachel said...

I would be a wreck. It already drove me nuts to see the pictures Mr. Daddy would take from 200+ feet in the air, then to get news that a coworked had FALLEN while climbing and had barely survived. ouch.

Makes you grateful for God's protection in all these dangerous situations.

It takes all kinds, right? God is using that adrenaline junkie husband of yours to help others who are in the same situation minus the training and gear.

Elyse said...

What a nice thought to go to sleep on right? Just kidding! WoW...I thought the helicopter was cool :)
~Elyse

Five Moms & A Blog said...

You are such a brave brave soul along with your hubs...that is just pure comfort in God I tell you!!! Isn't that funny that we both posted Cell phones today? Do you need a new one? I can order that one up for you right away!!! LOL

Jen said...

those men and women out there on the front lines do an amazing job. I know that I could not be out there, give me the comfort of the hospital.

I think one reason that these people do so well, is that they have a praying firewife/hubby at home.

Gracie said...

Saying an extra prayer for your sweet Firehubby right this second. May God place His hand of protection around he and all the others who work to keep us safe =)

Anonymous said...

This post was so accurate...I clean too when I am "worried or thinking". I seem to worry more about the brush fires tho, so unpredictable and unforgiving. The sweetest sound to me is when the hubby comes home and I hear that garage door opening....ooh yeah! :) Have an awesome day!!

E @ Scottsville said...

Well, my cop-hubby is the one ramming down the doors or kicking them in to go in after the bad guys. Ahhhh, gotta love our men for what they do, huh?

Love the photos you get. How come my hubs doesn't ever send me anything like that?! He'd mostly send me "weird naked guy in parking lot" or "fat kid stuck in car window" pictures.

-stephanie- said...

My husband has those stories too. His dad was a firefighter. Interesting but nervewracking.

We have rubberneckers here too. Bugs me.

Elaine at Matters of the Heart) said...

I saw that tweet last night and immediately prayed. I am so glad you believe, I imagine living as a fire wife might be a whole lot tougher if you did not have faith...

Hope you had a great day.

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

I have several close friends that their husbands are firemen and I hear the same stories from them....Have a great weekend.

Casey said...

It takes a special person to be able to handle the stress that comes with being the wife of a fireman.

Bless you!

Unknown said...

I understand how you feel. My dad is a Fire Chief and everytime he would run out of the door I would say a prayer and pray to God that he would come home safely. People don't understand the things that firefighters and police officers see and go through on a daily basis. They deserve all the respect in the world. They keep us safe and they protect us. They are heroes.

Helene said...

I can totally see why this would un-nerve you. I would imagine it's very worrisome for you to know he's out there possibly putting himself in harm's way, obviously for a good cause but it's still worrisome.

We recently went on a tour of our local fire station and it's amazing how bonded these guys were. They said it's like one big family and that's good to know...that he is being looked after by his "other family".

Paige Hinrichs said...

Your hubby is a hero. Lifting him up in prayer.

Orah said...

oooh - can u blog some more about healthy babies being born - oh maybe, you'll have a story about how firehubby delivered a baby on the side of the road in a ford crown victoria. 8-)

He & Me + 3 said...

I bet you say alot of prayers and I agree..ignorance is bliss.

Tina said...

When we first got married my hubby was a firefighter...I know the feeling! I hated the 3 days 24/7 he would be gone and the nights were the worst. My girls have fond memories of visiting Dad at the fire station on nights just to get a kiss goodnite.

Hope you guys have a wonderful 4th of July!

Jane Anne said...

What incredible pictures of desparate moments. I can only imagine the emotions you must go through. It reminded me of when I was an Army wife - it's different - but some of the emotions are similar (especially when my husband was in dangerous areas). Crazy that I likened your experiences with mine when my husband was in Iraq, I guess. Like Elaine said, your faith is so essential.

Jessica D. said...

YOu have to leave him in Gods hands and let him watch over him. Good for you not to worry to much. I can imagine that you could worry yourself sick.

Melissa Stover said...

and to think i get nervous when my husband works nights and comes home late from a chicken plant! sounds silly. especially compared to what yours does.