The Call

Robert is a Firefighter for the City of Maple Grove. He just received his 5 year pin this past February. He is incredibly  passionate about serving and protecting his city. I admire his passion for wanting to serve and protect others but this comes at a cost. Every time his pager goes off for a fire call, my heart sinks deep into my chest as he sprints off into go mode.

Last night we decided to go grab dinner. As we were paying for our to go order, his pager went off:

"Attention Maple Grove Station 1 and 2, structure fire has been reported at...."

It was go time again. As we were speeding our way back to the station, we could see in the West a HUGE line of smoke.My heart sank even more.

"Yup, it's a structure fire alright." He said with excitement as I was biting my nails with nerves.

Since I drove to pick up dinner, I dropped him off at the station, squeezed his hand goodbye and drove away not knowing what would happen next. I went back to his place and tried my best to distract myself with smutty TV. I kept looking at my phone to see if a text came through, nothing. The next 3 1/2 hours seemed like an eternity. I finally managed to doze off on his couch. Around 11pm his door opened, and there he was. Tired. Sweaty. Smelling of smoke. My guy. My Firefighter.

I knew in the back of my mind he would be ok. He's trained for these situations over the past 5 years. He's smart and I know he wouldn't do anything stupid but he has said that if he had to, he would risk his life to save another. Courageous as it may seem, that thought terrifies me to no end, and also makes me realize just how much he means to me.

I hugged him and kissed him probably a dozen times before I finally left. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm nuts, but I was so happy he was safe. This was the first legit fire I've experienced since dating him. He's had a lot of calls, but mostly false alarms. If things continue to progress as they seem to be doing so far, I have a feeling I will have a lot more legit fire calls to deal with.