Although he has a weak stomach, he learned to deal with my gory stories, which I recited in vivid detail.
Once he held me and wiped away tears as I cried for nearly 2 hours after hearing the news that hunters had discovered the body of a man we had searched for without success, and that he was likely alive while I was searching.
He grew accustomed to my routine disappearances to the backcountry, which often lasted days with no contact.
He let me practice my assessments and vitals on him.
Although a music industry studies major with absolutely no interest in science or medicine, he pretended to be interested when I selfishly recounted my passionate interest in the pathophysiology of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and commotio cordis.
He understood that I couldn't always make time for him while I was taking a 30+ credit hour course load, working a part-time job, and on call for SAR 24/7/365.
Even though he was the jealous type and my line of work often put me in close quarters with several men, he tried his best to grin and bear it.
He tried his best to respect the completely unique, incredibly close bonds I formed with others on the team, mostly with guys.
But most importantly, he believed in my dreams as much as I did, sometimes even more so.
It's hard to say exactly why this 3-year relationship came to an end. There's a lot of reasons. I'm sure that the stress my work placed on both of us played a part.
But here's to those folks who love an EMSer and put up with all of the pressure. Here's to those who try to make it work the best they can. Here's to those who have stayed up late night worrying about their loved one while they're out fighting fires or crime or trauma or terror. Here's to the husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons and friends who know that they will never really get "it", but respect "it" anyways.
Thank you.
This post is a part of Normal Sinus Rhythm, a collaborative writing project in which awesome EMS bloggers from all over the country share their experiences/misadventures/whatnot.
6 comments:
here here!
Lucid.
Fantastic post. One of the best that I've read recently.
I wish those closest to me were as accepting of my career.
Love the Post. shepp
Yeah, I would have to agree that they are pretty amazing for putting up with us EMS types.
From your list of jobs/future jobs, you don't even need anyone else to have odd relationships among the various jobs. Good luck, but you seem to be doing better than the rest of us. :-)
Eloquently put.
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