Last week Tuesday was Sept. 11, the anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies to strike this country.

On that day, we lost several thousand American citizens and a great number of first responders. And we have since lost a great many more from the ill effects of doing their jobs.

Earlier this month, the Melrose Inn, one of the town’s most historic buildings, burned to the ground. A number of area fire departments, as far away as Hendersonville, and EMS crews responded to the emergency.

I am a close neighbor to the inn. I spent the better part of the day watching our own first responders fight as hard as they could to first save the building, and then to save the adjacent structures. I watched them valiantly do the job they do every day in an emergency, some almost succumbing to heat exhaustion.

I know we see tragedies happen daily on the news. There is nothing like having it happen in your own backyard, literally.

Last October, the rarest of all things happened — a tornado. It came right over our heads in the very same spot. And, again, the first responders were here within minutes.

Please say a prayer for Marilyn Doheny, who has lost everything she had in the world.

And unless you see it first-hand, I don’t think you can realize how dangerous our first  responders’ work is. They are literally risking their own lives for us every time they answer a call.

I could not be prouder of or more grateful for them.

Every time you hear a siren, say a prayer. These folks are out there, at their own peril, protecting and saving us.

Julia Calhoun, Tryon