SOMETIMES YOU CAN GO BACK (AT LEAST FOR A VISIT)

Tonight was National Night Out and our neighborhood had its anual NNO BlockParty. It was a blast, I got to hang out and catch up with neighbors who (in this hustle & bustle world we live in) I usually only interact with for a minute or two in passing each week.

A public safety motorcade makes the rounds of all the block parties and everyone gets to check out the shiny fire trucks, squad cars and ambulances. You can take pictures with your favorite cop, firefighter or EMT, sit in the vehicles or hang out and listen to the stories told of days gone by.

I got an extra suprise this year, the ambulance contract for the city is up at the end of the year so all of the area private ambulances took part. I saw some EMT's who used to work in city but have transferred to another company (the one I used to work for, several communities over) It was awesome to see what they were up to. 

I lost touch with most of the guys and girls who were EMT's when I was 10+ years ago. One of the EMT's asked if I was going to be at the block party for awhile because her supervisor wanted to talk to me. I said sure and waited for the motorcade to arrive. When it got there I was suprised to see that her supervisor was my old partner who had trained me and taught me alot about being a good EMT and all around person. Our ambulance crew was tight back in the day and we all shared a ton of laughs, tears, trials and tribulations before we all went on our separate paths in life. Me and "Koz" caught eachother up with whats been going on in our lives, Marriges, divorces, careers  etc. We asked about other EMT's we worked with (3 have since passed away, 1 has become a writer, 1 a sea captain, a few have remained and have become paramedics and or supervisors at the company) All in all it was an awesome trip down memory lane and for just a brief moment I was young, not so jaded, and happy to soak it all in. It was great to be in the past for a bit but it is always good to come back home when its done.