From
Sean Holohan
I cannot begin to tell you how appreciative I am that this website was created. For one, it is important to see the pictures and hear the stories of what happened on that day. These things help many of us deal with the pain that many of us are going through. It is also important that the world is able to see what true heros we have/had at Engine 6.
There is another reason that this website is important, especially to me, and that is because it allows me (and others) to communicate with you. At this point it's been hard for me to come down to your house to let you know face-to-face how grateful I am for all that you do, so the least I can do is share a story with you. I thank all of you for loyalty, bravery and for being the heroes that you are.
About a month before our lives were darkened with pain and sadness, my brother Tom (as some of you may or may not know, I knew him as Chip), his wife and kids came upstate camping with me. Cayuga Lake was a special place for us because our parents had introduced it to us as kids, and brought us up there many times over the years as we grew up. I can remember how much my father loved going there to relax. He showed both my brother and me how to fish and really enjoy such an amazing part of nature. Tom brought his family there because he too wanted them to enjoy the same things his parents gave him. This past summer while we were there together, I could see in him how much he really loved being there. He loved being with everyone he loved and enjoyed watching his kids play and fish. Every night the two of us would fish together and then come back to the cabin to sit around the fire and talk a bit. Almost all of those nights up there I would get a good laugh as I could see h! ow! relaxed he was and wait to see how long it would take for him to fall asleep outside in front of the nice warm fire. Each night that he did fall asleep, I left him alone until I was ready to go to bed. Just being there with him made me feel really good.
There was one night we had a conversation about how I was still unsure of what career path I really wanted to follow. Of course he praised what a great job being a fireman was. It was then that I told him that that is what differs him from me. I told him "I run out of burning buildings, not in them!" I told him that's what makes him such a better person than me, he was much braver than I. I did tell him that I feared for him because of the danger that he enters at work, but of course he assured me he would always be alright (which of course I wanted to believe). He told me that he wasn't scared because of the trust he had in himself in his training and the trust in his brothers. I find it so amazing how you all become a family when you are firemen, and a great one at that. Nothing makes me happier to have known how much my brother loved his job and those he worked with.
As that night got later and our conversation about our lives and work quieted down, I watched as he held his beer in his lap (laughing a bit to myself waiting for it to tip and spill on him) and fell asleep. As usual I let him sleep a bit and let the fire grow dim. I sat there thinking how great I felt to have my brother there and thought about the many good times to come up there together. I'm sure he was dreaming the same.