The hours and days that followed the tragedy of June 2nd, 2011, from my

perspective as a member of Vinny and Tony's family here at Station 26, can only

be described as surreal. We embraced eachother, and our fellow firefighters,

whenever we would meet, and shared the burden of the great loss we all felt.

Personal friends and family of Vinny and Tony came to be with us as well, and

share the stories they had been a part of. Members of the community, the

people we serve, flowed in to the station to offer their condolences and

appreciation of us, bringing cards and flowers, food and childrens' drawings,

and stories of how we had helped them get through something in their past. The

walls that normally separate us from eachother, that defined us as strangers or

at best acquaintances, were burned down. It became obvious that we are all

members of the same family, that extends through all of humanity.

And we are too closely related to not help eachother out. At the funeral in Saint

Mary's cathedral, the Parable of the Good Samaritan was read, and it brought

tears to my eyes, thinking about how well Vinny and Tony exemplified the man

who was willing to get his hands dirty to help his brother in need. Throughout

their lives, in thousands of instances, they stepped up to do what others were

unwilling to attempt, or if they had to, would only do pissing and moaning with

resentment. All too often, I've been among those people, practicing the Golden

Rule with an attitude. Now that Vinny and Tony are no longer able to practice it

as they did while they were alive, with tolerance and humor, the responsibility to

do so falls more heavily on the rest of us. But after all that's happened this past

month, it will be forever easier to live by the Mayan code of In Lak' ech, which

means, "I am another you."

LOVE EACH OTHER