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For most people, the holidays are supposed to be this warm, shiny, Hallmark-movie stretch of the year. Bright lights. Matching pajamas...ugh. Kids tearing wrapping paper at 6 a.m. Families crowding around the table, laughing and arguing about nothing. But for a lot of first responders… the holidays hit different. And if we’re being honest—some years, they don’t feel like the holidays at all. When Your Family Is Broken Before the Eggnog Even Hits the Table In the fire service

What if I told you that purpose doesn’t care what other people think? Purpose doesn’t care about your emotions, your bad day, your stress level, or the chaos going on around you. Purpose doesn’t flinch when life punches you in the mouth. It doesn’t get intimidated by trauma, by fear, or by the darkness that likes to creep in at 3 a.m. All purpose cares about is the goal —completing the mission — crossing the finish line. Purpose is that one thing in your life that refuses to

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was one man of a two-man engine crew. We were running a suicide engine to a high-hazard commercial fire. As soon as we rolled up, thick black and gray puffy smoke was pumping out of the building like a living thing. We forced the door, and the moment we stepped inside, we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces. I was crawling through that stifling, smoked-over darkness, feeling my way through the unknown, looking for that warm ora

I still remember my first controlled live burn in fire school like it was yesterday. The instructor stacked up a couple hay bales in what looked like a living room and lit them up. The flames climbed the wall fast, heat rolling across the ceiling. He knelt down next to us in the smoke and through his face mask shouted, “This is the best job in the world!” That moment stuck with me. It wasn’t just the adrenaline or the fire — it was the gratitude in his voice. The man meant it