Goodbye, my friend
I'm posting this here, despite being on Facebook more often. Facebook is the land of tiny status updates, and, honestly, this deserves more room.
After my brother got out of the Army, he started working EMS and joined the fire department. Not a surprise, really - Dad was in the FD since before I was born, him and Mom were founding members of the local volunteer ambulance squad. Once I hit 16, I joined the volunteer squad myself, started running calls with them.
Met a helluva lot of good people in those days. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them were pricks with perverse, nearly malicious senses of humor... but that was a coping mechanisms for a lot of them. But they were good people, who took tough jobs because someone needed to do it. People get hurt, and somebody needs to answer the call. They nodded, took a deep breath, and answered.
Scott got partnered with a number of people, but two of them stuck out, were there most often. One, I'd known since I was a kid - Marc went to school with Scott, so they'd been long-time friends. Buck, though, he met through work, and they rapidly fell in together.
He was more than just some dude we ran calls with. Buck became part of the family, showing up at picnics and shit. He was a gruff and grumpy SOB at times, and if you knew where his buttons were you could rile him up in a heartbeat...but I can't count the number of time we laughed together, or wasted countless hours trying to beat some stupid game, or just sat around shooting the shit.... He was the second older brother I never asked for...but was always grateful for.
As Marc put it, he was hard pressed to find someone who'd had more of an impact in the fire/EMS community than Buck. From Amsterdam to Cazenovia, he was well-known, left an impact on squads and departments some hundred miles long. Gods know he left an impact on me, and many others who joined the squad back home same time I did. He was a helluva medic, very professional, always had your back, and a helluva inspiration. He was a firefighter and investigator, and if you you didn't like the man, you had to respect his dedication. Being in fire/EMS takes a lot of courage...not only for the physical dangers (running into a burning building, riding in a top-heavy ambulance with several tanks of O2 just waiting for an excuse to blow), but also for the emotional dangers. It's hard to go out there at odd hours of the day to deal with the sick and injured. I've seen people burn out working for just one side of things, just one squad...yet Buck doubled-down, took on both aspects, and just kept on going.
On Thursday, the world lost one of its bright lights. Life will go on, the world will keep spinning...but things will seem that much darker for his absence. Farewell, Buck. You were a member of my family, and will never be forgotten. Be at peace, my brother, you have earned your rest.
After my brother got out of the Army, he started working EMS and joined the fire department. Not a surprise, really - Dad was in the FD since before I was born, him and Mom were founding members of the local volunteer ambulance squad. Once I hit 16, I joined the volunteer squad myself, started running calls with them.
Met a helluva lot of good people in those days. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them were pricks with perverse, nearly malicious senses of humor... but that was a coping mechanisms for a lot of them. But they were good people, who took tough jobs because someone needed to do it. People get hurt, and somebody needs to answer the call. They nodded, took a deep breath, and answered.
Scott got partnered with a number of people, but two of them stuck out, were there most often. One, I'd known since I was a kid - Marc went to school with Scott, so they'd been long-time friends. Buck, though, he met through work, and they rapidly fell in together.
He was more than just some dude we ran calls with. Buck became part of the family, showing up at picnics and shit. He was a gruff and grumpy SOB at times, and if you knew where his buttons were you could rile him up in a heartbeat...but I can't count the number of time we laughed together, or wasted countless hours trying to beat some stupid game, or just sat around shooting the shit.... He was the second older brother I never asked for...but was always grateful for.
As Marc put it, he was hard pressed to find someone who'd had more of an impact in the fire/EMS community than Buck. From Amsterdam to Cazenovia, he was well-known, left an impact on squads and departments some hundred miles long. Gods know he left an impact on me, and many others who joined the squad back home same time I did. He was a helluva medic, very professional, always had your back, and a helluva inspiration. He was a firefighter and investigator, and if you you didn't like the man, you had to respect his dedication. Being in fire/EMS takes a lot of courage...not only for the physical dangers (running into a burning building, riding in a top-heavy ambulance with several tanks of O2 just waiting for an excuse to blow), but also for the emotional dangers. It's hard to go out there at odd hours of the day to deal with the sick and injured. I've seen people burn out working for just one side of things, just one squad...yet Buck doubled-down, took on both aspects, and just kept on going.
On Thursday, the world lost one of its bright lights. Life will go on, the world will keep spinning...but things will seem that much darker for his absence. Farewell, Buck. You were a member of my family, and will never be forgotten. Be at peace, my brother, you have earned your rest.