Family

We have a large music festival heading our way.  Of course it can't be something cool, like a country music festival, but instead is a Phish music festival.  No, I'd never heard of them either, but apparently they are huge with the hippie/peaceloving/ecstasy and LSD doing crowd.   Oh, and glow sticks.  Apparently one of the big things at these festivals is to use a whole lot of ecstasy(which super heightens your senses) and then, with 40,000 of your friends, wave a lot of glow sticks and somehow this is "cool."

And of course I'm working up there, 12 hours on, 12 hours off, for the next 4 days. 
Lucky me.

We needed our  new udpated IDs for the fire department(both my fire department and 
the ambulance agency I work for are providing EMS coverage at the concert. I couldn't be luckier, I'm tellin ya) in order to be up there.  Rob and I hadn't picked up ours yet, so he texted the assistant chief and asked if we could get them.  Instead the chief said he had to go grocery shopping anyway and would drop them off.
After I signed for them and remarked on how terrible my picture was, I flipped them over and noticed a mistake.  On the back of mine, it had Rob's name, phone number and our address.  On the back of Rob's, it listed my name, phone number and address.  I pointed this out, that whoever made the IDs switched the backs.
The chief looked at me strangely.  "That's your emergency contact," he said.

Oh.
Right.

So if something happened to Rob, all they would need to do is flip it over his photo ID, which should be hanging on the accountability board at any fire.  There is my name and my cell phone for them to call.  There is my house number and street name, in case it is really bad, and notification needs to be made in person. Right there, easy to see, no looking up papers or numbers in case of emergency.

The truth is that it probably wouldn't happen that way.  If I wasn't at the fire, I would hear a firefighter down call on the scanner or my pager long before anyone called me.  Firefighter down activates all sorts of procedures, the first being all unnecessary radio traffic stops.  All firefighting operations cease and everything turns into a rescue scenario.
I would hear all of this, and because I also have our private, F2 channels in my pager, I would be able to switch over and listen to the radio traffic.  It would probably involve his name, because we're not the best at keeping secrets.
And I would know.

The other truth is that it doesn't matter who it is.  Whether it was my husband or not, if I heard a firefighter down called, Josh is going to my cousin's and I am going to the scene.  It might be my husband, but it would definately be one of my brothers(or sisters, since we do have several female interior qualified firefighters).  It would be someone I know. Someone I love, even if I don't always like them.
Because that is the way we are.   Even if it isn't my husband, it would be someone in my family.  Whoever's ID tag was being flipped over, it would be someone I care very deeply about and trust with my life. 
And I would be there.

And maybe that is why I don't dread the midnight phone call or the knock at the door.  If something goes wrong on a fire ground, I will probably be there or be there shortly after.  And I would never, ever be alone.
There is comfort in that.

But I am not thinking that way tonight.  Tonight, my husband is at work at his full time medic job, and since I have to be at the fire house at 0530 for my 12 hour shift at the festival, Josh is spending the night at Grandma's.  So tonight, I'm putting on a movie, going to bed early, and thanking God for all of the extra family I have in my life.