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The
26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal
leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a
strong feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to
grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The
leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dreams to come
true.
She
took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what
you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you
would do with your life "Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when
I grew up."
Mom
smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come
true."
Later
that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix Arizona, where
she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her
son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to ! give her six year
old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll
have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an
honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station,
eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if
you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a
real fire hat -- not a toy one -- with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire
Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.
They're
all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast. Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed
him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the
waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck
and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven.
There
were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all
three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van,
and even the fire chief's car. He
was also videotaped for the local news program.
Having
his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished
upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than
any doctor thought possible.
One
night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head
nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone,
began to call the family
members to the hospital Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a
fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to
send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his
transition.
The
chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five
minutes. Will you please do
me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights
flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?
It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one
more time. And will you open the window to his room?"
About
five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital,
extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window and 16
firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room With his mother's
permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how
much they loved him.
With
his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "
Chief, am I really a fireman now " Billy, you are," the chief
said. With those words,
Billy smiled and closed
his eyes one last time.
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"Choose
you this day
whom ye will
serve
but for me
and my
house we will
serve the Lord "
