on with her mother. Although SuAnn had a tendency to speak her mind, she was definitely on edge today more than normal.
“Fine. I’ll roll down your window a little.”
“Well, you’re gonna mess up my hair, but whatever“ she heard her mother mutter under her breath.
She cracked SuAnn’s window and then looked over at Dawson. He gave her a look as if to say just ignore it. Ignoring her mother was difficult, as it was for many daughters. That relationship between mother and daughter could be treacherous.
A few minutes later, they pulled into the fire station. An older red brick building, the fire station has been in the same place for many years, according to Dawson. He thought they might renovate it one day, but it didn’t seem to be high on the list of the city council’s concerns.
“Do they have a pole in here that the firefighters slide down?” Dylan asked as they parked the truck.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to ask one of the firemen,” Dawson said.
“Do they have fire ladies?” Dylan asked.
“I’m sure they do. Now, stop with the questions for a little while and save some for the firefighters,” Julie said, exhausted from answering the thousand questions he had asked just in that one day. She forgot how inquisitive little kids were.
Once on a trip to Kentucky to see some distant relatives, Meg had decided not to go to sleep and had asked what seemed to be four-thousand questions on the way there. By the time they got to Kentucky, Julie had been ready to pull her hair out by the roots.
“I’ll get the cookies!” Dylan said, jumping out of the truck as quickly as he could. Dawson was already back there, waiting for everybody to park and handing out cookies to those who were standing there.
As Julie watched the process happen, she was so thankful to get to create this new memory with Dylan and Vivi. Although Vivi was so little she probably wouldn’t remember this first part. But they planned to do it every year, and she would make sure it was a part of her granddaughter’s life.
Giving back to the community and saying thank you to first responders was an important part of how she had raised her own daughters, and she hoped to raise her new son the same way. She wanted him to be thankful for those who served the community, and to at least show thanks at the holiday season.
* * *
The firefighters had been thrilled to receive all the cookies and cakes. Of course, as Julie expected, there were tons of treats already in the kitchen brought by people in the community. But she still liked to do it, if for nothing else than to just show her appreciation.
Dylan was very excited about the tour. As they walked through in a large group, the firefighters showed them all the different areas, including their living room where they played games and watched TV when they weren’t on calls. They also showed their kitchen where they prepared meals. One of the firemen had explained that he was the main cook of the group, and some of them were terrible in the kitchen.
They walked out into the sleeping quarters, and Dylan seemed to be very surprised by them. They were more like cubicles with little beds in them, and he couldn’t imagine that the firefighters slept in those rooms with no actual walls or privacy.
“What happens when you need to use the bathroom?” Dylan suddenly blurted out. Julie wanted to slip her hand around his mouth, but it was too late.
“Well, we use the bathroom,” the firefighter said. His name was Steve, and he was a tall, muscular guy with bright red hair and broad shoulders. Julie could imagine him carrying just about anyone out of a burning building without an issue.
“But does the bathroom have a door? Or does it look like this where you all use the bathroom in the same room?”
Julie didn’t know where Dylan got these questions. She was so embarrassed, but couldn’t help but laugh.
Steve smiled. “It’s a private bathroom. Don’t worry.”
They continued walking around the place until they ended up in the large bay where there was one firetruck and an ambulance.
“As you can see, this is our main fire truck. We have another one that’s out on a call helping out with a fire in Charleston. And then this is our ambulance. We don’t get a lot of emergency calls around here except for the occasional