Posted by Mary Kay Meanor (209.245.97.216) on September 21, 2001 at 16:21:05:
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 no 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
firechief and said, "Chief,
am I really a fireman now?" Billy, you are, and the
Head Chief, Jesus is
holding your hand," the chief said. With those words,
Billy smiled and said,
"I know. He's been holding my hand all day, and the
angels have been
singing." He closed his eyes one last time.
My instructions were to send this to at least four
people that I wanted God
to bless
and I picked you. Please pass this to at least four
people you want to be
blessed as well as the person who sent it to you. This
story is powerful and
there is nothing attached; please do not break this
pattern; uplifting
stories are one of the best gifts we receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards, let's continue
to uplift one another.
God bless you and have a nice day!