Anne Gagliano
我坐在一个拥挤的正式宴会厅里，当时，一只300只手将一张奇异的扑克牌抬高到空中 - 七个心。当我们瞥了一眼并意识到我们都拿着相同的相同卡片时，我们在当晚的娱乐中取消了这个惊人的魔术技巧：“ Double Vision”，加拿大唯一相同的双胞胎魔术和喜剧表演。每个观众的成员都得到了自己的卡片牌，并指示切割，转弯，扇子，看，然后将它们放在甲板的底部。我们一遍又一遍地做到这一点。这些数字并不精确，甲板是正常的（正如我们清楚地看到它们的那样），我敢肯定，每个人都这样做有所不同。然而，在最后，当我们被要求在最后削减之后握住顶部卡时，我们都有相同的卡。这个技巧不仅是非凡的，而且卡本身也是如此 - “幸运”和“心”完美地总结了一天的事件，这深深地触动了我的心。
My husband Mike and I had the great honor of being invited to teach at the 2019 Alberta Fire Chief’s Association Conference in Red Deer. It was my first time flying to Canada. I’ve driven there many times, as we live only an hour from the boarder of Vancouver, British Columbia, but I’ve never flown. Flying is a whole different experience with customs and all that goes with it. You truly feel that you’re in a foreign country: vulnerable, alone, and far from home. But before long, a firefighter picks us up at the airport in Calgary and delivers us to our hotel in Red Deer safely. With this, we realize we are among our fire family, the only difference being just a hint of an accent. Well treated (they gave us really cool coins just like American firefighters do), well received, and very well fed, we relaxed and enjoyed.
在教学的第二天，我坐在迈克的最后一堂课“ Go/No-Go”中。因为它仅是站立的房间，所以我选择在讲师桌子后面的前面占据额外的座位（就像我真正能做到的那样，是老师的“特殊宠物”和所有人），从而释放了我的另一个消防员的座位。这个新座位是一个不舒服的座位。现在，所有人的眼睛都面对我的方向，但是我侧身转向，将目光聚焦在迈克上，以免被太害怕。我可以这么说是因为我有偏见，我爱他。迈克是一个惊人instructor and engages the crowd so completely that, for a while, I forget that I’m somewhat under a spotlight. However, this will soon change.
随着迈克的前进，他提出的第一点是指火灾现场的救援概况。消防员节省了什么？他问人群：“您有什么风险挽救已知，可保存的生命？”古老的格言说：“有很多省钱的风险。冒险一点节省一点。什么都不要拯救任何东西（或者已经丢失的东西）。”当我听到这一点时，作为消防员的妻子，我总是想：“请不要冒险。”In my view, it’s总是No-Go. Typically, I’m somewhat detached, even a little cynical when life or death is mentioned. I guess this is a natural form of self-preservation. The thought of我的firefighter risking himself for another is too painful for me to even contemplate, so usually, I don’t.
But this day, in this class, in this spotlight “hot seat,” I’m struck in a whole new way. Maybe it’s because I’m in Canada, maybe it’s because I’m getting old, or maybe it’s because I’m in front of a crowd with its eyes on me—this message suddenly becomesall about me。Mike uses this as his next example: “What would you risk to save my lovely bride sitting here beside me, a known, savable life. She’s my whole world; if I lose her, I’ll never convince anyone else to marry me. Keep in mind as you make your decision, you risk not just your life, but the lives of your entire crew when you decide to enter that fire. You risk your parents—I have to think of this, as I don’t believe my parents would survive losing me. They’ve already lost my baby sister to cancer. My death would probably destroy them. You risk your spouse’s life, her happiness, her heart. You risk your children’s lives—their future, their development, their financial stability. May I submit, you don’t risk a lot to save a life, you risk一切。知道这一点，你会冒险吗everythingto save my wife?”
到这个时候，我的心正在猛击。所有人的目光都注视着我。当我感到自己的脸变红时，我害羞地看着。这已经变得非常个性化，而不是对消防员再次表演勇敢行为的抽象概念。但是，这些消防员在这个房间里，在这片外国，被要求冒险冒险 - 只是为了拯救我? The room erupts in emphatic answers of是的—I would—I would give all to save your wife。我敢瞥了一眼，看着这只鸟的视线中的所有勇敢的面孔，我可以看到它们的意思。不加思索。他们会这样做；将他们的生活换成我的。肿块充满了我的喉咙，眼泪刺痛了我的眼睛。
消防员和消防员的配偶，下次您听到消防员勇气时，请不要像我们那样典型地掩盖它。我们以某种方式认为这份礼物是理所当然的，即使有时会感到不满，因为对痛苦和损失的恐惧是任何一天的不愉快的想法。但是，请这样做，想象一下所有那些勇敢的灵魂在晚上保持监视，暂时准备好给您 -只有你—to pluck you from the forces of death. It is incredibly personal. Powerful. Unfathomable. Firefighters all across North America, from Alaska, to Canada, to Key West, and all over the world, will give everything to protect you, to save you.How lucky are we to have such a gift?A gift of courage and sacrifice and heart? The quote I like to use in my marriage class (from an anonymous military leader) comes to mind as I think;Dear God, where do we get such men (and women)? What loving God has provided, that each generation, afresh, there should arise new giants in the land. Were we to go a single generation without such men, we should surely be both damned and doomed.
我们有多幸运，我们中间有这样的人，幸运的是认识他们，爱他们，站在他们旁边，抬起他们？这一切都振作起来。这个单词心源自拉丁语Cor， 意思是勇气。我认为所有这些事情当我那天晚上在火宴会上凝视着卡片时 -lucky #7 of hearts.
如果您对我的书有兴趣Challenges of the Firefighter Marriage, check it out这里
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Anne Gagliano已与西雅图消防局（WA）消防局的Mike Gagliano上尉结婚33年。她和她的丈夫一起讲授建立和保持牢固的婚姻。
