Blue Roses

On Monday night, a firefighter died during training. He was the first one to die on duty in the history of Western Springs. So, today was his funeral. They blocked off most of the streets, and there was this huge procession through town on the way to the cemetary. First came all of the fire and police chiefs from all the suburbs - there were some towns that I didn't even recognize. Then the WS police and fire fighters came. They did a stop in front of the fire station, right down the street from me. The color guards stood at attention, and the church bells rang. Then they did the sirens and a minute of silence. The color guard people marched out of the way, and they started the procession again. After all the cars, they had a fire truck that was just brimming with flowers. Then the next truck was draped with black and purple bunting, and that's where the casket was. It was all just so amazing. There were all these people outside watching to pay their respects, and it was so sad and solemn and beautiful. He was only 54 years old. He had just retired from his first job, and he then wanted to be a fire fighter. At least he got his wish for a short while.