“I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.”
This is written on the wall of Fire Station #1. This simple statement speaks the volumes of words you could use to describe the men and women of the Sylvania Fire Department. We started a journey many weeks ago with a simple desire to give our children the opportunity to reach out into our community to honor and say thank you to the brave men and women of our local fire department. We wanted them to meet those individuals in the community that stand for the values of honor, integrity, respect, courage and teamwork. We found each meeting to be as unique as the men and women of each station. But what each meeting shared was that when we left, we felt we departed as friends, and even as part of a larger family. This is what the community of firefighters are; they are a family. They became a part of the Garden Toledo family, and we became a part of theirs.
It was our great privilege and honor to meet them all. Truly, our lives will never be the same after meeting them. It was a humbling experience to see that behind those rough exteriors are people just like you and I. They are fathers, mothers, grandfathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. They have joys and sorrows. They feel fear and get scared. They care about those that they are serving. Sometimes they see things and experience things no human should have to. They are ordinary men and women who choose to do extraordinary things. They do this because we need them. They choose to put themselves in harms way on a daily basis for those in the community because they are called to this profession. If you ask any of them, they will say this is not a “job”; this is a calling. We are grateful that no matter the road that brought them here, they found their way to us.
We could choose no better example for our children to look up to than our firefighters. They are the pattern for our next generation. They display the true character of a role model. It is with a grateful heart that we say thank you to each and every one of them. Truly, together we make Toledo a better place.
