Thank you for always protecting us
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, September 19, 2018
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