The firefighter’s wife faces challenges that most wives can’t comprehend. I of course don’t know this first hand because I am the firefighter. I have however as I’ve gotten older and listened to my wife and have really began to understand why our marriage is different from those that aren’t in the fire service.
My wife tells people often that she is a single mother every third day. And I guess that she is. When I left to go to work she still had to deal with the everyday things in our lives, things that took both of us to complete on the other days. My wife has had to be a father and mother, a cook, a chef, a chauffeur and much more while I was working. Doing the job I love to do
My wife and most all fire service wives do this without complaint. It isn’t always this way. Look around your own fire house. The divorce rate is high. By some estimates as high as 50%. Being away 24 or more hours at a time, doing a job that isn’t always the safest. But it isn’t just the wives that feel this strain anymore. With women joining the fire service in numbers greater than ever before, there are husbands now that have those same challenges. The husband and the wife still have the feelings of dread when the phone rings or there is a knock at the door.
The wife and the husband in many cases is carrying a very heavy load while we are away. Thank them, let them know how much they are appreciated and we understand things aren’t always easy on them.
So for all that take care of things when we are gone……we appreciate and thank you.
We all go home!
Until next time,
Captain K
