Life Check.

I know I promised a lovey dovey post but things change and life happens and goes on. It might still come but this ones first.

Today (Wednesday) I hugged a classmate (23 years old) as she said goodbye to her brother (25 years old). The same ages as myself and my brother. While the classmate and I weren't close, we were mostly acquaintances in high school, we still have the connection of being classmates. Since then we've been facebook friends but nothing more. I honestly don't know if I've even seen her since we graduated, five years ago. But today I was that familiar face in this terrible time she's going through. That's why I'm in EMS.



Her brother drowned on Sunday after jumping off a boat to help a young child in a life vest who was floating away from the boat. The victim didn't have a life jacket on and never resurfaced. He was found today (Wednesday). As EMS we were part of the body recovery and all that goes along with that.

 In that time of chaos and sadness, I hope to be a familiar face to help them through what they're going through. To offer a smile amidst the tears. This isn't the first time I've known my patient/family and I know it won't be the last. People have told me that countless times. I had another really bad call that was actually one of my classmates. I don't know if any of his family saw me or would know me but I was placed into that situation for a reason.  To me, it's amazing that after graduating 5 years ago, our class and others are still very close and it doesn't matter what group of friends you had then, when your classmate dies it affects you.

In the 9 months that I've been an EMT I've been into several difficult situations/calls. But every time after them I realize God is placing me in them for a reason and He's confirming the fact that I'm on the right track to where He wants me to be--something that I've longed for and have been wondering about for a while.
 I pray regularly for God to guide my life and give me direction on where He wants/needs me to be. And knowing that He wants me to try to be that friendly smile to someone who is hurting is a great feeling for me.

This situation provides another example that God will call us when it is our time, it doesn't matter how old we are or our family situation, or anything. If God wants us to be up with Him, He'll punch out our life card and call us to our eternal home. As scary as that is I can't wait to be there.    

Edit/Late Entry:
If you're doing something for the money you're doing it for the wrong reason. I had someone tell me they looked up the "salary" of EMT's in the area and she was a little disappointed that she can make just as much by staying working as a tech at the hospital. Most people's first question when they find out I'm an EMT is "Do you get paid?" I wanna say, "Does it matter?".

I do it because I love it and the joy it brings me everyday I'm on call. Plus our department here has become a family. I've known one of the nurses on the department from working with her also at the hospital but being EMS is such a different environment we're able to learn so much more about each other. She called me this day to make sure I was doing ok because she had seen on the news that the body had been recovered. Something I wasn't expecting but should have known someone would reach out and make sure I was alright after a tough call like that. We watch each others backs. Our EMS team has been a huge impact in my life.

 I'm so glad that I've been accepted as part of the team so quickly too. I've become best friends with one of the paramedics. He wants me to not go to school and just be his partner all the time. As much as I'd love to do that I think I'll keep my plans of going to school. :)