The Last Call

My father was a fireman.

He drove a big red truck and when he'd go to work each day

he'd say, "Mother wish me luck."

Then Dad would not come home again

'til sometime the next day.

But the the thing that bothered me the most

was the thing's some folks would say,

"A fireman's life is easy,

he eats and sleeps and plays,

and sometimes he won't fight a fire

for days and days."

When I first heard these words

I was too young to understand

but I knew when people had trouble

Dad was there to lend a hand.

Then my father went to work one day

and kissed us all goodbye

but little did we realize

that night we all would cry.

My father lost his life that night

when the floor gave way below

and I'd wondered why he'd risk his life

for someone he did not know.

But now I truly realize

the greatest gift a man can give

is to lay his life upon the line

so that someone else might live.

So as we go from day to day

and we pray to God above

say a prayer for your local fireman.

He may save the one's you love.

Author unknown