As we neared Washington, PA, I saw a flag flying just above an overpass. I wondered how it was suspended and who thought to put it there for Veteran’s Day. Suddenly I realized that the flag was not suspended above the overpass; an older man was standing on the overpass, holding and waving the flag.

I choked up immediately. I looked at the temperature gauge in our car; it was only 39 degrees. It was before ten o’clock in the morning on a day that many citizens have off in our country. I wondered what this man’s story was; was he a Veteran? Did he have a son or daughter overseas? Was he just a patriotic son of a gun?

Just before we passed under the overpass, I waved.

And he waved back.

I don’t know who that man was or what his story was or why he felt so compelled to give travelers on I-70 a Veteran’s Day experience to remember, but I felt honored to be given such an experience.

As always, thank you to our Veterans. Some of my favorites include my husband, his paternal and maternal grandfathers, my uncle, my cousin and his wife, a new friend’s husband who is currently deployed and many, many others.

Thank you — each and every one of you.

A Veteran’s Day Experience to Remember is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Consider this your friendly Fire Family reminder to change the batteries in your smoke detectors while you’re changing all the clocks in your house. I will note that I did not change the batteries in our smoke detectors today because my back is giving me fits and I thought hanging out on the ladder seemed like a bad idea. However, I’m going to bet good money that FireDad will change ours tomorrow.

Some fast facts:

• Only 6% of U.S. homes are not equipped with smoke alarms, yet 40% of residences with fire had no installed alarm. (Source.)
• On Friday, November 4, 2011, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by news media throughout the United States. (Source.)
• Some fire departments offer reduced price, or even free, smoke alarms. Contact your local fire department’s non-emergency phone number for more information.

When did you last test your smoke detector batteries? Don’t lie. If it’s been awhile and you’ve been out of the house for longer than a day, you’re running the risk that your batteries died and you simply don’t know about it. Change your batteries today and then start following these easy tips for fire safety in your home.

• One of the best ways to protect yourself and your family is to have a working smoke alarm that can sound fast for both a fire that has flames, and a smoky fire that has fumes without flames. It is called a “Dual Sensor Smoke Alarm.”
• Place a smoke alarm on the ceiling of every level of your home and outside bedrooms. Children and older people can sleep though the loud sound of a smoke alarm. Make sure your escape plan includes someone that can help children and others wake up immediately to escape from the home.
• If you keep your bedroom doors closed, place a smoke alarm on the ceiling of each bedroom.
• Check smoke alarms monthly by pressing the test button.
• Never take smoke alarm batteries out to put into other items like games or remote controls.
• Teach children what the smoke alarm sounds like and what to do when they hear the alarm sound.
• If there is a fire, leave the home right away by crawling low under the smoke and never go back inside.
• If smoke from cooking makes the alarm sound, press the “hush” button, if your alarm has one. You can also turn on the kitchen fan, open a window or wave a towel near the alarm until it stops making the sound. Never take the battery out of the alarm.
• Most alarms need a new battery at least once a year. Some smoke alarms have batteries that last for up to 10 years. If your smoke alarm is over 10 years old, replace it with a new alarm and a new battery.
• If you rent, talk to your landlord about placing a working smoke alarm in your home. You still need to buy a new battery at least once a year for the alarm.

(Source.)

An old co-worker of mine tried to argue that smoke detectors in each bedroom and outside the sleeping area of the home was “overkill.” I just kind of looked at him like he had two heads. In the middle of the night, in the dark of your home with the added stress of thick smoke, don’t you want to have the greatest chance of getting everyone awake and out of the house? Yes. Yes you do.

In short: Change your batteries. Now. Or when your smoke detector starts beeping in the middle of the night, you can think back to this post and say, “Gee, I should have listened to FireMom.”

Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

343 who will never again hug their spouses, their mothers.

343 who won’t ever tuck their kids in at night; some of whom never met those children.

343 who had no idea what was going to unfold that day when they went to work, to do their job, not to be a part of history or be brave and heroic and be the stuff of legends.

343 who live in our family’s heart and minds everyday, but especially on days like today.

343 who lived their lives like this:

“Firemen are going to get killed. When they join the department they face that fact. When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work. They were not thinking of getting killed when they went where death lurked. They went there to put the fire out, and got killed. Firefighters do not regard themselves as heroes because they do what the business requires.”
-Chief Edward F. Croker, Firefighter Chief of Department, FDNY ((1899-1911), 1865-1951)

I won’t pretend to have the answers. I don’t. I won’t tell you how to feel; I don’t even know how I feel about what happened then and what has happened now. I do know that senseless hatred caused the death of 343 firefighters who were part our family. I know that eight years and one day ago, Bush proclaimed that the mission was accomplished… and the man of my dreams was able to come home and begin a life with me. I’ve been a military wife. I am a firefighter’s wife. I don’t have the answers.

But I will always remember.

[Though I don't have the answers, I encourage you to read Morgan's piece about all of this. I nodded. She said much of what I think, what I believe. I think, perhaps, she just made her upcoming-BlogHer-hug even bigger because of this piece. She's fantastic, even in the not-so-trivial stuff.]

343 is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Firefighter Mike Urban’s helmet has been returned to his widow.

I hadn’t yet pulled up any news page to see if there was any further news on the story. Instead, someone who works at the local news station in Framingham took time to comment on my post and let me know that it had been returned. Turns out that he’s also a firefighter. I told you that there is a family in the fire service; we all care for one another.

I read the article and, of course, got a little weepy.

Her husband’s helmet had protected him – at least from physical objects – and “Now, hopefully, it will protect me the rest of my life,” Urban told the cameras. “I can’t hold him anymore, but I can hold onto the helmet.”

I said much the same on Friday. My heart is so relieved that she now has his helmet. The article went on to talk about the Fire Chief, Lance Benjamino, used the return of the helmet to teach his son that some things in life are priceless. And it’s true.

I find it incredibly interesting that the award money wasn’t used. An “anonymous tipster” called in to say that it was behind the station in a backpack (that was also stolen with the helmet) on Friday evening. The fact that the money wasn’t used makes me wonder. Did the thief return the helmet, feeling guilty after all the news coverage? Did the thief’s significant other or mom or grandpa do it? Or was it someone else entirely that tracked it down? It’s interesting. Interest aside, I’m just glad it is home.

I hope that Maureen Urban and her daughters — now in their 20′s — can begin to work through their grief and healing and the messy art of losing someone you love so dearly. It touched me when the article mentioned that Urban’s daughters used to pose in his helmet when they came to the fire station.

I think we all have a few (or more) photos like those in our albums.

Firefighter Mike Urban’s Helmet Has Been Returned is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

There’s a reason that the tagline of my blog is “writing and photographing the family side of fire life.” I am not blogging the fire life. I write and share photos about our family, which involves being part of the fire department. There are very specific boundaries that spouses and partners need to remember when they are sharing things with the blogosphere.

Things I Do Share:

• Photos I take from trips to the fire department.
• Struggles and benefits we encounter with fire scheduling.
• What it’s like to miss our firefighter when he’s gone for days at a time.
• The fear I experience as a fire wife.
• Jokes, funny tidbits and other things that do not name specific people or would not otherwise get people in trouble.
• My reaction to big local fires, big national fires and the like.
• Stories that embarrass me, not my husband.

And of course, I write about the fire stuff I find — books, clothes, bedding, toys. And I write about the boys. And I write about me, which is a whole other post that I’m working on for sometime in the near future.

Things I Never Share:

• Specifics about a local fire unless I’m sharing that tips are needed to aid in the investigation.
• Inner workings of the fire department.
• Arguments between firefighters, whether that involves management or not.
• Beefs with city government.
• Specifics about rescue calls. (HIPAA, anyone?)

I do tweet when I know they’re going out on a fire. I find that my online fire family will sit up with me for awhile — as it’s always in the middle of the night, isn’t it? — to help calm my fears and remind me to go back to bed. I tweeted when there was the mayday call with our men last year, but I did not share the specifics of what came about department wise afterward.

And I won’t.

The truth is that my words can be used against my husband. If he tells me something in confidence, and I blab it to the whole Interwebz, he could lose his job. If I share a funny story that may embarrass another firefighter on his shift, that firefighter may get angry with my husband, causing unnecessary tension which can be deadly during a fire. If I trash talk our city government on this blog — the very city government who pays my husband — I’m putting his job security at risk. If I’m sitting here whining about how mean fellow firefighters are to my husband because he’s new, he’s only going to get razzed more. (He’s not; that’s an example. They have a new guy to razz now.)

There’s a balance in fire life blogging. I try to focus on us, as a family, more than my husband, as a firefighter. And I never, ever put words in his mouth. He has chosen not to blog publicly anymore because of his career, though other firefighters do it and do it well. He is content to read their blogs, read my blog, read fire spouse blogs, read some of his other favorites and send me “inappropriate” someecards.

By respecting the boundaries of what I can and cannot share, I respect not just the local fire department and the integrity of firefighting as a career, but I also respect my husband. This is his dream job. If I wrote something that caused him to lose that dream? I’d never forgive myself. He deserves the respect. And so does your firefighter.

A Reminder to Fire Spouse/Partner Bloggers is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

That’s right. The whole room was fully engulfed in less than 40 seconds. Do you know how scary that is? Think about how long 40 seconds is for just a moment. Is that enough time to round up your children and get out the door? What if you’re in the opposite corner of the house unloading the dryer or trying to find the presents you have hidden in your storage room? Could you get to your children and get out of your house in less than 40 seconds? That’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be the case. In short, “a wet tree is a safe tree.” The information from NIST is encouraging and informative. (They also have a comparative video on above link.) Here’s what their research concluded.

Wet trees tell a different story. For comparative purposes, the NIST researchers selected a green Scotch pine, had it cut in their presence, had an additional two inches cut from the trunk’s bottom, and placed the tree in a stand with at least a 7.6 liter water capacity. The researchers maintained the Scotch pine’s water on a daily basis. A single match could not ignite the tree. A second attempt in which an electric current ignited an entire matchbook failed to fire the tree. Finally they applied an open flame to the tree using a propane torch. The branches ignited briefly, but self-extinguished when the researchers removed the torch from the branches. Trees that have been watered properly, and maintain pliable, green needles are harder to ignite than dry trees with needles that break easily when bent and fall from the tree when the branches are shaken.

In short you need to cut your own tree from a tree farm. Do not purchase trees that are pre-cut from roadside stands. And you need to water it. Daily. If you’re going to grandma’s house for four days, don’t go with a real tree this year. Watering is insanely important.

As much as a dry, unmaintained tree can be a fire hazard, it’s not the only fire safety concern when it comes to the holiday season. The US Fire Association (USFA) has some important tips on keeping your family fire safe this year. Here are some very important things you need to do before you decorate or now if you’ve already decked your halls.

• Maintain your lights. Check for frayed wires, bare spots or other unsafe spots in your wiring.
• Do not overload electrical outlets. Do not link more than three strands. Check wires by touch; they should not be warm.
• Do not leave holiday lights unattended. I know they’re pretty but turn them off when you’re going to Christmas Eve service or dinner at grandma’s house.
• Use only nonflammable decorations. Keep all decorations away from heat vents.
• Never put wrapping paper in a fire place.
• Avoid using lit candles. Always extinguish them before you leave or sleep. Never put them on a tree. Never.

There are some other suggestions as well.

I share all of this information with you not to be a Scrooge. I love holiday decorations, lights and Christmas trees. As a sharing point, no, we don’t have a real tree in our house. When FireDad showed me these videos this past Friday night after getting home from a week at the Fire Academy for Fire Investigator education, I asked one simple question, “Is that why we don’t have a real tree.” His reply was in the affirmative, of course. I do share this information with you so that you are aware. It is possible to have a well-maintained, live Christmas tree and other safe decorations around your home. It is possible to have a fire safe holiday.

It would be in your best interest to go ahead and remind your children what to do if there is a fire, test your smoke alarms and practice fire safety this holiday season. You could be extra-dorky, like me, and attach these gift tags to any gifts you’re giving this season that will remind others to practice fire safety as well. They’re festive and they promote safety. Just like us. (But we don’t attach well to gifts. Go with the printable tags.)

Be fire safe this holiday season!

Fire Safety and the Holiday Season is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I’ll be telling more of my story, especially for my newer readers who don’t know about my very complicated pregnancy history, on November 17th here on the blog. Why? March of Dimes is hosting a Bloggers Unite event entitled Fight for Preemies as part of Prematurity Awareness Month®. We will be participating and telling our story, or rather, stories of the fight to keep those babies in my womb for as long as possible. Some of you might be thinking, “But weren’t your babies born full term?” The answer is, “Yes, but only thanks to medical intervention.”

I tell you all of this now, a month and a day before the March of Dimes & Bloggers Unite event, because I want you to tell other people. Right now there are 168 bloggers signed up to participate. Sadly, with over 500,000 babies born premature every year, I know that there are more than 168 bloggers out there touched by prematurity. Maybe you didn’t have to fight preterm labor or use medical interventions to stay pregnant. Maybe you didn’t give birth to a premature baby. But I’m guessing that you know someone or are related to someone who has experienced premature birth. Maybe you are the aunt or uncle of a beautiful premature miracle. Maybe you lit a candle yesterday for a baby you were waiting for that lost the battle. Whatever the case, March of Dimes wants you to get involved. In their words, “We need to fight ? because babies shouldn’t have to.” Yes. What they said.

Here’s how.

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. The March of Dimes invites bloggers like you to get involved.

• Learn about premature birth at marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies.
• Put a badge on your blog during November, Prematurity Awareness Month®. (Ours is already up.)
• On November 17, blog for a baby you love and to help others. Sign up Bloggers Unite so that others may find you and your post(s).

What makes me all the more emotional about this topic is that they are holding the Bloggers Unite event on BigBrother’s birthday. While he was born at a robust eight pounds, eight ounces, that pregnancy was hard won. It started off difficult and remained that was for its 38 week, 4 day duration. We are so blessed that we can participate in Fight for Preemies while simultaneously celebrating four years of his life. Without research and support by March of Dimes, that might not be the case.

Come back on November 17th to hear about the hows and whys of BigBrother’s tumultuous pregnancy and the similarities between the other two live births. We will also be reading, commenting and linking to other Fight for Preemies posts on that day via twitter and our blog here. If you plan on participating, please let me know. I want to be ready to link to your story.

Come back and learn how these two boys (and their sister) got the chance to be so big.

And noisy. Don’t forget noisy.

Fight for Preemies on BigBrother’s Birthday is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

The Firefighters by Sue Whiting (Author) and Donna Rawlins (Illustrator) is a book I got from our library. I’ll admit that I knew nothing about it and grabbed it solely based on the title and the photo on the cover. It’s a cute cover! The book itself is lovely. The book follows three little “firefighters” as they imagine their way into the fire truck (a box) along with their teacher and zoom off to the fire. They put on oxygen masks (hankerchiefs) and work very hard to put it out. I love imagination and so this book is an automatic favorite of mine. BigBrother and LittleBrother are also constantly putting out imaginary fires so they find this book to be fabulous. The reason I have included it in this post of books that contain fire safety tips is because, after the children put out their imaginary fire like the real firefighters, real ones show up to teach them about fire safety! They’re taught to “get down low and go, go, go” if a building they are in catches on fire. At first glance, you may think it’s just part of the story but your children pick up on this information. It’s a great little lesson in a great little book about firefighters. (As a side note, one of the children pretending to be a firefighter is a girl and one of the firefighters who arrives is a woman. HOORAY!)

Spark the Firefighter by Stephen Krensky (Author) and Amanda Haley (Illustrator) is a book I recently purchased through our Scholastic book order at preschool. I rarely pass up a firefighter book in the book orders and I wasn’t disappointed with this particular one. The story follows a dragon who is, get this, afraid of fire. BigBrother found that to be rather amusing. Spark then decides to join the fire department to train himself not to be afraid of fire. (I must admit that this doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea for people who are afraid of fire.) He goes through the training (carrying ladders, studying about caring for people who are burned). Eventually he gets to fight a real fire and proves that he isn’t afraid of it anymore. He then comes back to help train new recruits. So where’s the fire safety lesson? In the middle of the book, it shows Spark at the school, teaching the children about fire safety. The chalkboard reads, “Never Play with Fire!” The fire chief explains, as Spark rolls around on the ground, what you should do in a fire (crawl under the smoke and stop, drop and roll if your clothes catch on fire). Once again, it seems like a two-page-spread in a story about a dragon but it doubles as a very important lesson. This book is simply adorable. I love Spark and so do TheBrothers.

The last book we love when it comes to fire safety tips is Clifford The Firehouse Dog. We love Clifford in this house, whether in book, television or movie form. So, Clifford as a firefighter is an easy love. In this story, Clifford and Emily Elizabeth go to visit Clifford’s brother, Nero, a firehouse dog. As they’re visiting, the fire siren rings. We then follow Clifford and the firefighters as they make their way to the fire and put it out. Clifford helps in his big and tall ways. At the end, Clifford is mad an honorary fire rescue dog just like his brother. The fire safety tips in this book occur in two places. At the beginning of the book, before the fire siren rings, a group of children have arrived at the station to learn about fire safety. Nero teaches them how to stop, drop and roll. (So does Clifford but, at his size and with his Clifford-like-luck, he ends up crushing something. Not a child.) A list of fire safety rules also appears at the very end of the book. Things like knowing the way out of your house, choosing a place to meet and never using the stove alone are all on the list. I loved that they included a list at the end of the book! Clifford wins again!

You can see by these three examples that storybooks can still teach our children very important lessons. When it comes to teaching our children about fire safety, we don’t always have to be in-your-face dramatic about it. Fire safety is serious. No doubt about it. However, children learn things in a variety of ways. Presenting information about what to do in case of a fire in a non-threatening way can help them learn it and memorize it without either of you even realizing it.

Now it’s up to you, once they’ve been exposed to the information, to ask them at random times, “What do you do if your clothes catch on fire? How do you get out of the house if it is filled with smoke? What number do you dial if there is a fire?” Use the books and ask the questions.

Be fire safe!

_
[Disclosure: The Firefighters was borrowed from the library. We purchased the other two books.]

Fire Prevention Week: Storybooks with Fire Safety Tips is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Today I though I would bring you some links so that you can utilize the Internet as you teach your children about the importance of fire safety. Even very young children can utilize Internet sites, whether for games, for reading or for printing coloring pages. All they need is you to help them locate the sites, work on whatever the site offers and to explain the importance of each site and safety tip. Here are some of my favorites.

1. The National Fire Prevention Week website actually has some great resources for parents and kids. Things like the Fire Safety Inspection Checklist (.pdf) and the Fire Safety Information card are great activities to complete with older children. The arcade on site provides for a fun way to bring a discussion about fire safety into your learning process. For the youngest set, a coloring page with Sparky is made available that highlights the important things to remember to prepare for and in the midst of a fire emergency.

2. Sprout, the PBS kids channel, has a great Fire Safety Week program going on right now, including on their website. This site provides more coloring pages, including a counting one, a Fireman Sam one and some others. (A fun thing on the Sprout site allows for you to upload a picture of your kids’ artwork once it has been completed for others’ viewing pleasure on the website! Cool!) There are also some videos on their Fire Safety page.

3. USFA Kids (US Fire Administration) has a great site that combines pertinent information (Home Fire Safety, Smoke Alarms, and Escaping from a Fire) with some games (Crossword Puzzles, Coloring Pages, a test to be a Jr. Fire Marshal among other things). I found this site to be particularly easy to navigate for a computer-independent child who wants to learn on her own.

4. Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog is one of my favorite programs regarding fire safety. Sparkles’ owner, Firefighter Dayna, is passionate about fire safety (just like we are!). They’re actually part of the Fire Safety Week on Sprout this year! Their site offers more activity pages, GREAT fire safety videos and crafts.

These are just some great online resources for you, as a parent, to help your children understand the importance of fire safety. As a parent you need to know these things as well. First and foremost, know your house’s floor plan and make a fire escape plan should an emergency occur. Teach things as simple as “stop, drop and roll” and the importance of getting low should the hallway be filled with smoke. As you help your child navigate the online resources for learning about fire safety, make sure you’re up-to-date on all of your knowledge. Your family’s lives depend on it!

Tomorrow I will have a review of some younger child storybooks that also highlight some fire safety points. Be sure to tune in all week as I bring you various tips, fun pictures and other pertinent facts on fire safety. (Also, as this is October and Halloween is just around the corner, check out our review of the best firefighter costume on the market right now, pictured above.)

Fire Prevention Week: Utilize the Internet is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Stephen Gordon Ward was 33 when he died on September 11, 2001. 33. That’s young. Four and a half years older than me (now), Ward woke and went to work at Cantor Fitzgerald on a clear September morning. An accountant. An uncle. A brother. A son. He had just moved to Manhattan. I’m sure he felt like he was on top of the world as he made his way to the top floors of 1 World Trade Center, the floors that Cantor Fitzgerald occupied. 657 of his fellow employees died that day.

When I joined Project 2996 and was assigned to remember and honor Ward, I started Googling. The things people have said about him in various forums all over the web have stuck with me. From what I understand, he must have been a character, the kind of guy that could make you smile. His sister’s quote in the New York Times profile from November 16, 2001, posted here on Legacy.com, made me tear up.

“But to my younger sister, she’s the youngest, he was her big brother, he was a god. It’s interesting for the two of us, we have the two perspectives. For me, he’s a little kid, how could he be gone? For her, he’s the great big strong big brother, how could he be gone?”

Eight years later, words like these are important to me. To remind us of the humanity lost. We may have removed ourselves from the immediacy of the terror and the fear. But to remember that men like Ward were brothers, that they left behind confused sisters, well, it brings back the point of remembering. We don’t remember out of fear. We remember because they lived, they touched lives and they continue to live on in the hearts of friends, of family.

I didn’t know Stephen Gordon Ward. I didn’t even know on September 11th, 2001 that I would one day marry a soldier, a firefighter. I didn’t know that while reading Fireboat to my inquisitive three-and-half-year old eight years later that I would choke up and sniffle back some sobs only to be asked, “Mommy, why are you sad? Fireboat helped those people!” Fireboat did help those people. He’s right. But I wonder when my boys will understand. I wonder how I’ll ever be able to explain it properly. I do know that we, as a family, will say a prayer for Ward’s family tonight. I do know that we, as a family, will continue to participate in things like Project 2996 each year, honoring and remembering and learning.

Yesterday afternoon, I set up the easel on a sheet on the deck. I drew the lines of the flag with intention of having them paint with brushes. Then I couldn’t find the right paint and we did some finger-painting instead. We didn’t end up with flags. We do, however, have finger-painted tributes. I didn’t make them wear their firefighter helmets. They’ve been on non-stop. We just recently got a new firefighter costume and they’ve been wearing their helmets everywhere. It adds a certain something to these pictures, this visual tribute. I struggled with whether to share pictures on this tribute post of the boys with smiles on their faces. I then realized that if someone was remembering my family and our loss in such a great tragedy, I’d want more smiles than tears. And so we did.

I don’t know much about Stephen Gordon Ward. But I know that these two boys will be raised to respect and honor his life and his death just like those of the 2995 others who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I may shed another tear or two today but I hope to raise my boys with little projects like these each year. They give me a reason to smile. I pray I can teach them a healthy balance between remembrance and living life, between laughter and tears. This year we send our smiles and tears, our hopes and our prayers to Stephen Gordon Ward’s family. We honor their loss, their grief and the lives that they continue living.

_
Please visit Project 2996 to read the tributes to the other lives lost on September 11, 2001. We, our family, will never forget.

The FireFamily Remembers Stephen Gordon Ward for #Project2996 is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.