Last week as we turned into the Brookshire’s parking lot, we saw the big, new fire truck, also known as Truck 1, pull in behind us. Kiera’s eyes immediately lit up. “What are they doing?” she asked excitedly.
“They are probably going grocery shopping, honey.” Aaron answered as he put the truck in park.
I unbuckled my seat belt and began to climb out of the truck. “Wait!” Kiera yelled. “Wait! I want to go, Mommy! Pleassssseeeeeee!!!”
I sighed, because I was only planning on going in for lettuce. My quick trip would not be so quick, but I could not resist her “please.”
“Ok, but we have to hurry, honey.” I said as I unbuckled her and helped her out of the truck. We began to walk to the door closest to us.
“I don’t want to go in this door! I want to go in the other door.” Kiera said as she pointed to the other door at Brookshire’s. What was so special about that door, you might ask. Well, that is the door that the firefighters went in.
“Honey, the firefighters went in the same store we are going in. They just went in a different door. I promise. They are in the store somewhere.” I replied to my overly concerned daughter.
As we walked to the produce section, well, I walked while Kiera skipped, she continued to question the whereabouts of the firefighters. “Where could they be? Where are my firefighters?”It tickled me that she was claiming them as her own. We randomly pop over to the fire station every now and then and Kiera loves these trips. One of her favorite guys is Firefighter Chad.
As she held my hand and looked from side to side, I realized there was not a chance we were leaving the store until we had located the unsuspecting firefighters. I picked up a head of lettuce and turned to my bouncing child. “Do you want to find the firefighters?” I hesitantly asked.
“Yes!!” She shouted excitedly. “We need to find them!”
“Ok… but, when we find them, you have to talk to them where they can hear you. Is that a deal?” I asked.
Nine times out of ten when we have visited the fire station, my overly talkative child shuts down. It’s actually funny to watch. We can pull up to the station… she talks. We walk to the door of the fire station… she continues to talk. We walk in and are greeted by a firefighter and suddenly her voice does not work anymore. It will not work again until we exit the fire station.
“Deal!” She answered bouncing while holding my hand.
And that is how I found myself stalking three firefighters through Brookshire’s. It is amazing the things I do for this child.
We started walking down the front of the store, peering down the aisles in search of a firefighter. Finally, about the middle of the store, she spied them at the meat department. “Look! There they are!” She eagerly said while pointing down the aisle.
In our brief moment of celebrating, they moved. Now, they had begun to walk along the back of the store towards the dairy section while we looked down the aisles from the front of the store. Like I said, we were basically stalking.
Finally, we reached the very last aisle and there they stood. I’m not sure in her eyes that there weren’t beams of sunlight shining over their heads. I quietly said, “Ok, remember, if they talk to you, make sure you talk back to them. Make sure you are loud so they can hear you.”
We started down the refrigerated aisle and stopped by the eggs. Firefighter Kevin stood about three feet in front of us looking at something on the refrigerated shelf. I looked down at Kiera to see her beaming. Her eyes were bright and her face glowed as she stared in awe. I swear she could have lit the store up with how much she was beaming.
Now, did she talk to him? Oh no. We stood there, me looking at my little girl, waiting for her to utter some words while she stared at Firefighter Kevin.
After a brief moment, he noticed he was being watched and turned to smile and talk to Kiera. She was enthralled. She finally managed a quiet “hi” to Firefighter Kevin as Firefighter Jake and Firefighter Ben walked up. All three were wonderful with Kiera. They smiled and gently coaxed her to talk a little. I can’t even begin to describe how happy she was as we walked out of Brookshire’s. It literally made her day.
Fast forward to tonight, after dance. I called her in our bedroom. “Kiera, guess where you are going tomorrow?”
“Where?” She asked.
“What is your favorite place to go?” I asked.
“McDonald’s?”
“Not even close.” I responded. “Where does Firefighter Chad work?”
“At the fire station.” She replied not connecting the dots.
“Well, tomorrow, you are going to the fire station!” I announced.
She threw herself at me, hugging me and squealing. “You are the best Mommy ever!”
I laughed and hugged her back.
Tuesday will be a great day for her. I won’t be able to attend the ceremony but I’m counting on my friend that is taking her to take lots of pictures of that beautiful, beaming face. I know Kiera will be thrilled to celebrate with “her” firefighters.
I want to take the time to say thanks to our firefighters. Thank you for all the things you do. Responding to calls, taking care of people as they wait for an ambulance or as they wait for a family member, saving lives, thank you for all the big and small things that you do. And thank you from this Mama for always taking time to spend with my little girl. God bless y’all and congratulations on the new station.
