Well good morning everyone. I just wanted to take a moment and tell everyone a wonderful and fantastic hello. I am taking a little moment and having a great little vacation in Florida at the Disney parks. The most important part of this unbelievable trip is that I have had able to spend some time with my mom, my sister and my amazing neice having no vacations before as well as my own awsome Hallie and Hunter. A pretty awsome level of fun that was great for us all to spend some time together and get to see what everyone is really about, in addition to us almost being mostly free. It has been really nice for me to spend many moments holding, hugging and kissing everyone.
Well I just wanted to take a moment and give my big news. After meeting with possibly two great doctors who have been keeping me at my best, we discussed what I am going to do about returning to work. The short answer is that after 10.462 years of serving the City of Riverside Fire Department the time has come for me to retire. It's a pretty amazing story how I got hired with the City and became part of another family, after all it only took about 5 years to get onto any fire department. I started at about 25 years old and went every where that I was able to get my car or by airplane to try to get my opportunity. California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Colorado and took many trips. I mostly didnt know how this application process worked and how it was totally different than getting other jobs and having just one meeting. There was a mental test, a physical test, an oral and then if you did fantastic you got to another oral with the Chief. Most often you were number 57 out of 4,500 which was awsome, but they were hiring number 1 -12. Yea! Nothing but money on the airline flights got to be your memory of that department. And then it was my local Riverside City who offered me an amazing opportunity. Well, The doctors and I discussed many things as I thought this was totally silly to leave that place that I really enjoy, my dream and taking moments helping people I thought why quit I just got to be a certified driver. The doctors found my concern funny and shared some things about my type of brain cancer. I have to share what was the thing that was going to be the toughest thing for me. The biggest fun dream for most of us is to be the one holding the nozzle at a great fire and since I have never pushed myself to that 110% since going off on the workers comp. no one knew how my brain would handle that system. Now knowing that if in this most amazing fun time God would have called me home , which is alright with me even though strange for others, I would have been alright, but knowing how my fire department would send people to help and rescue me which could be harmful or dangerous to them and that would be something that I could never allow to happen. So I believed that this was the best thing for me. On October 30th, 2008 will be my offical ast day. My last day with my best brothers and sisters, the well decisive captains in charge of us all, and the whole City of Riverside who has made this overwhelming thing run so completely smoothly to you I say thank you. I know that if all of these people were somewhere else as retail, mechanics are just parents would be those that are the ones who as knows as leaders, yet instead we all joined together and to the things that are important. While I feel silly after seeing all the others who placed a wonderful statement about how they have reached a time to leave and allow their moments to come to the others they are leaving behind, I still don't feel ready to go. I still wanted to be the one who laughed with my family, helped the families and pulled the nozzle off first. While I know that my situation is different than all those previous retirements I know that this is the best place for me. I know that God has something to do or complete so I won't get that moment to write that same wonderful statement of all those I would be priveledged to follow.
