I've woke up this morning thinking about what to write in my Dog Blog today when suddenly at 4:45 am my cell phone rang. Actually, it rang when I was walking down the stairs, crutches in hand, cell phone in my mouth in total darkness, trying my best not to tumble down to the bottom of the stairs. I looked at the phone, it was my son Sean. For those of you reading my blog who aren't part of my family, my son Sean is a proud member of the United States Coast Guard. As I type this, Sean and his shipmates are preparing their ship this Sunday morning to head out for another 8 week voyage. When they take off in a few hours, they are headed directly toward two Hurricanes that are forming in the Atlantic Ocean. I'm going to keep today's blog short and sweet...and I'm not talking about dogs today. When I have the chance to talk with my son Sean on days like today, dogs don't seem very important(don't tell Bogey I said that). It will be the last time I have a chance to talk with him for at least a few weeks. During that time, I won't know what he's doing, where he's doing it or how safe he and his shipmates are..or aren't. We do know he's trained to do his job and he's doing something he loves. I'm proud of my son for the service he's giving our country. My family is full of hero's like Sean. I have two brothers in law (Bob and Bob) that are retired fire fighters. I have another brother in law (Kerry) that is currently a fireman in Utah and I have a nephew (Greg) that is also currently working as a firemen in San Diego. You have to wonder about why someone would want to run toward a fire when everyone else is running away....or drive a ship directly toward the eye of a hurricane when everyone else is driving away from it. The reason is simple. They do it because it needs to be done and lives will be lost if they don't do their jobs. They don't do it for the money, they don't do it for the praise, they don't even expect a thank you at the end of the day. I often wonder if Bob, Bob, Kerry, Greg and Sean even know how many lives their work has saved over the years. and...keep in mind, when they save just one life, they also saved an entire family from the grief and loss of a loved one so at the end of the day, they actually saved an entire family. I remember writing Sean letters during his boot camp, telling him that because of the sacrifice he was making to become a member of the Coast Guard someones life, who he doesn't even know yet, will be saved sometime in the future because of his hard work and sacrifice. As I said...I'm keeping today's blog short and sweet. I'll end today with a big THANK YOU. Thank you Bob, Bob, Kerry, Greg and Sean for being part of my family. We love you guys and you are hero's to us all. And to Sean, stay safe out there and we will talk again in a few weeks. We all love and miss you....and Mom said to remember your sun screen.
