Subject: A Great Story
The Littlest Firefighter
The 26-year-old mother stared down at her
son who was dying of terminal leukemia.
Although her heart was filled with sadness,
she also had a strong feeling of determination.
Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up
and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was
no longer possible. The leukemia
would see to that.
But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true.
She took her son's hand and asked,
"Billy, did you ever think about what you
wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever
dream and wish what you would do with your life?"
"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
Mom smiled back and said,
"Let's see if we can make your wish come true."
Later that day she went to her local fire department
in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob,
who had a heart as big as Phoenix.
She explained her son's final wish and asked
if it might be possible to give her six year
old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that.
If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock
Wednesday morning, we'll make him an
honorary fireman for the whole day.
He can come down to the fire station,
eat with us, go out on all the fire calls,
the whole nine yards! "And if you'll
give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire
uniform for him, with a real fire hat-not
a toy one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department
on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.
They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix,
so we can get them fast."
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy,
dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted
him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and
ladder truck.
Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and
help steer it back to the fire station.
He was in heaven.. There were three fire calls in
Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out
on all three calls.
He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van,
and even the fire chief's car. He was
also videotaped for the local news program.
Having his dream come true, with all the love and
attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply
touched Billy that he lived three months longer
than any doctor thought possible.
One night all of his vital signs began to drop
dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the
hospice concept that no one should die alone,
began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman,
so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it
would be possible to send a fireman in uniform
to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.
The chief replied, "We can do better than that.
We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor?
When you hear the sirens screaming and see the
lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system
that there is not a fire? It's just the fire
department coming to see one of its finest
members one more time. And will you open
the window to his room?
About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck
arrived at the hospital, extended its ladder up to
Billy's third floor open window and 16 firefighters
climbed up the ladder into Billy's room.
With his mother's permission, they hugged him and
held him and told him how much they loved him. With his
dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief
and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?"
" Billy, you are," the chief said.
With those words, Billy
smiled and closed his eyes one last time.
My instructions were to send this to four people that
I wanted God to bless and I picked you. Why don't
you pass this to four people you want to be
blessed as well as the person who sent it to you.
This prayer is powerful.
Please do not break this pattern;
prayer is one of the best gifts we
receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards,
let's continue to pray for one another.
God bless you and have a nice day!
"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and
email buddies reading this right now. Show them a
new revelation of your love and power. Holy
Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit
at this very moment. Where
there is pain, give them your peace
and mercy. Where there is self doubt,
release a renewed confidence
through your grace, Amen.."
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