Tribute

Together they work, eat and sleep.

For hour upon hour they have constant companionship yet in their eyes is loneliness not many people see.

Their time is well occupied, if not with daily tasks then with hard unpredictable work.

For most, the life they lead, beyond those four walls, is what keeps them going in the slowest and roughest times.

The death they often see only makes them stronger, more sensitive and appreciative of all they have.

Some say their job is easy enough but I know differently; I am in love with a man who makes his living fighting fires and saving lives.

When he leaves me he is excited for what lies ahead, and when he returns he’s exhausted, sometimes sad from a death of a little girl, and not very easy to live with for a while.

But he’s home and alive and well, and I know I’m part of the reason why.

Although I know he loves me I sometimes wonder if I am second to his job.

But he comes home from a hard shift, quiet and in need of only someone he can be next to who loves and understands him, and knows his mood will soon change.

It’s that security that makes his life beyond the station so needed and so important.