Well, I made a really tough decision today. I have been a volunteer fireman for the last 11 years. I have seen and been through things that most people shouldn't see. I loved serving my community and loved serving with my brothers. That being said, when I got on the dept. I was single and had all the time in the world to go fight fires, work wrecks, do lift assists, etc. But since then I have taken over a new role as a step dad and I just haven't had the time to be there for the dept. like I should have. Between my 3 girls they played in 314 games in 2021, basketball and softball combined, and I coached in a lot of those games. We had a meeting this past Wed. and we went over the numbers of calls made the past year and I realized I was hurting the dept. by not being there. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but after a few days of thinking, I turned my badge and radio in today. I didn't want to, but I want these guys to be able to replace me with someone that can be there more than I can. All I could tell them was my family comes first and I won't miss being with them so I can sit at home just in case we get a call.

I'm sure that was tough but the right thing to do. Doing the right thing isn't always the easy thing. 

Thanks for your service. I had to make that same decision several years ago. I don’t run calls anymore but I’m still a life member of the department. 

In my opinion by making that decision shows the kind of character you have. 
The priorities you showed those kids is the one of the greatest lessons you can give them. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

Life can be give and take at times and we find ourselves prioritizing. 

Sounds like you have yourself a busy life going and made the right decision. 

 

I put my family on the back burner with my occupation and side jobs and later down the line, had some regrets.....family first.

11 years is pretty good. A lot of firemen  don’t stay on that long. Congratulations on leaving your post honorably. 

Good on you man..its tough to make a decision like that even when you know and feel its right. I did something similar at work last year to a certain extent. I was safety committee chairman at my plant for several years..we were responsible for safety permits and policies around the site aimed at limiting possible injuries..we would also do trainings and RCAs after an incident within our fleet to help gain knowledge on how said and what changes needed to be made policy wise, operations wise or engineering wise to mitigate the risks.

With our structure change and work load shift combined with my new role as utility/ water manager consuming all my time I wasn't able to give the effort or time I saw fit to fill my role so I stepped down. Wasn't an easy decision and not everybody agreed with it initially..but it was the right one for the plant and my piece of mind. The people at the plant are my friends and I couldn't justify half as$%&# it with their personal safety.

13 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Well, I made a really tough decision today.

 

Sounds like you did the right thing, kudos to you.

 

Now, I just need to take this post as a template and tell my wife and kids that I need to retire from being their dad from the months of April through October so I can be a fulltime fisherman.

Life is what happens when you make other plans. Family comes first.

You and your family will / should always come first.   Well done.

It's been 30 years ago but I dated a girl who's father was a volunteer fireman. He would tell all his experiences to me since he couldn't tell his wife and kids and his fellow firemen didn't talk to each other. I was a convenient ear.  His stories scared the #@%# out of me.  I could tell that one day he would reach his limit. I always thought of him as a hero.  He did one day walk away.