The life of a firefighter wife is split in two I would say. Some firefighter wives hate their husbands job as a firefighter, hate the lonely nights and live in fear every morning their husband leaves for work. The other half of women just don't think twice about it, I'm in that category . . . thankfully! Oh, this is my husband by the way, he's pretty cute:
That picture was taken the day of his graduation from LAFD's Academy back in 2007. We got engaged the very next day and our lives have continued to get better and better from that day forward.
Anyway, when Marc leaves for work at 4:45am we give hugs and kisses, we say our "I Love You's" and I tell him to be careful. At that point I go back to sleep and the thought of what he is doing at work escapes my head completely. I never think about the dangers of his job and he doesn't tell me many stories of his life at work (which is a good thing for me). In fact, when he does go on fire, whether it be a house fire or a brush fire, he is very excited about it, this in turn makes me excited for him. Don't get me wrong if there is a big brush fire out there I'm locked to the TV but just because I want to see him on TV and thats it. I never live in fear that he will get hurt or that he won't come home. In fact, I am more fearful that he will get in a car accident driving to and from LA than I am of him getting hurt at work.
You see, LA City Firefighters are some of the best trained firefighters in the world. It is very prestigious to be a part of LAFD and they truly are like a big family. I know that Marc works with other firefighters who are well trained and very smart. Above anything else, I trust that God has my husband wrapped up in His hands and is taking good care of him every day that he goes to work.
The life of THIS firefighter wife looks something like this . . . go to the grocery store, cook, clean, facebook, blog and repeat. Oh don't forget an occasional trip to Target of course! This is what I do, this keeps me busy all day believe it or not and this keeps me from wondering what Marc is doing while at work. Of course, on the weekends I spend the day with my mom. We usually run errands, look at baby items, window shop in hopes that we will come home to a mailbox full of money one day and go out to lunch or dinner. Today, we are not doing anything real exciting but we will make our way to Daphne's Greek Cafe for lunch and that I'm excited about! You'd be surprised what a little lemon soup, hummus and pita bread can do for your day! :) After my day with my mom I will do the other things on my list, mostly clean. I'm a nighttime cleaner so I will spend most of night doing just that tonight.
Spending time alone can be a great thing. You can get to know yourself and actually grow as a person by enjoying your own company. I know there are people out there who just can't do that, they have to have people around them at all times. My dad is one of those people. He just does not enjoy his own company and he has to be surrounded by others. I assume that the lonely firefighter wives out there feel the same as my dad, I don't. I enjoy my time alone and my time with my dog, Sierra. Sure I miss Marc but I don't dwell on that, he has a job to do and that is a 24 hour shift job. Thats it.
Well . . . not the most interesting blog in the world but I figured you should know a little something about my husband and the life we live. Tomorrow I will have to tell you about our weekly Family Day, you are sure to enjoy that one!
Enjoy your Saturday blogworld!
RIP Glen Allen (Fallen LAFD Firefighter)
Jen
It's funny as I was reading this I kept thinking, 'if she changed firefighter wife to military wife, she's be talking about me.'
ReplyDeleteJust like firefighter wives, there are two kinds of military wives and I'm just like you.
I like to be alone, which serves me well, because Craig's job certainly does send him away often.
I truly believe that God will protect our husbands, whether they're out fighting fires or looking for bad guys.
I hope you enjoyed your hummus and pita. Yum.
We are a lot more alike then we thought! You see, I really do want to be just like you :)
ReplyDeleteOur pita and hummus was delicious! Extra good today, thanks! Hope you had a good Saturday too! :)
What? You don't want to be like your Tee Tee?!
ReplyDeleteSorry tee tee ;)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy my alone time too! If I don't get enough of it, I get pretty crabby. I think you're totally right, being alone with yourself really helps you grow. It makes you more confident and peaceful. Plus, you can do fun things like go see movies that only you want to see and no one can say anything!
ReplyDeletegreat blog. However, it seems you have family support as well. I am married to a firefighter/paramedic/technician. We have 2 children and moved out of state away from everyone we know and trust. I most of the time feel as if I am a single parent. The hours of a firefighter are brutal..well maybe not all but when my husband comes home from a 24 hour shift he 99% of the time needs to sleep...so there goes another day without spending time with him or him spending time with his children. I also feel lonely at times and without having family close by for support or to help me once in awhile is a bit of a struggle.
ReplyDeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteYes, I do have a great family support system which is really helpful. If I didn't I'm sure our lifestyle would be a lot more difficult. I'm sorry that you feel lonely at times, I hope that one day you are able to be closer to your family. Perhaps you could join a small group at a local church to help you with some of those lonely times? Good friends around can be just as supportive as family.
Thank you so much for reading! Take care!