My father was a fireman.
He drove a big red truck
and when he'd go to work each day he'd say,
"Mother, wish me luck".
Then Dad would not come home again 'til sometime the next day.
But the thing that bothered me the most
was things some folks would say,
"A fireman's life is easy, he eats and sleeps and plays,
and sometimes he won't fight a fire for days."
When I first heard those words, I was too young to understand,
but I knew when people had trouble, Dad was there to lend a hand.
Then my father went to work one day and kissed us all goodbye,
but little did we realize, that night we would all cry.
My father lost his life that night when the floor gave way below
and I wondered why he'd risk his life, for someone he did not know.
But, now I truly realize the greatest gift a man can give
is to lay his life upon the line, so that someone else might live.
So as we go from day to day and we pray to God above,
say a prayer for your local fireman.
He may save the one's you love.
Jim Martinez, LAFF
