Awards Dinner

A few weeks ago we were invited to attend the Annual Aurora Fireman's Award and Promotions Dinner. The firemen and medic that answered our 911 call were receiving  a commendation and they wanted Jake to present the award. Jake was as excited as I was nervous....I don't know why, but my stomach was in knots all day. As soon as I walked in and looked at the program and saw "Jake's Story", I got all emotional. The speech sharing Jake's story hadn't been shared with us prior to the event so we didn't know what to expect. There were about 300 people in attendance and we sat at a table with the Captain of the crew and his family. (Not sure what the deal is with that strange reflection on my face.)

During the dinner, my Dad was sitting next to the captain and he shared some of the details of that night they came to the house. It's hard to look back and think about how critical Jake was, they honestly didn't expect him to make it. Even this many months later, it's not an easy thing to hear or really even register. I just can't imagine if Jake hadn't survived this. When I look at where he is today, it really is a miracle.

They shared Jake's story and to be honest, I only heard about half of it. I was trying too hard to not sit there blubbering. We went up with Jake (at his request) to present the award. He did such a nice job and we were so proud of him. I still haven't got the official event pictures, but these are what we have.

Oddly enough, the most emotional part of the evening happened afterwards. We got back to the table and I look over at Luke, he had his head down and was crying. I took him out of the room and sat with him and tried to figure out what was going on. The more he talked, the more he broke down. Hearing them talk about the 911 call and the bad shape Jake was in, was just too much for him. It took him back to that day when our household was in complete chaos, fireman were coming in, and the next thing he sees is Jake coming out on a stretcher. He had initially been in the house when we made the phone call, but went outside with our neighbor because he didn't want to see Jake throw up. He said he was just saying to himself "Please let my brother be ok." It broke my heart to think of him standing outside, scared and not knowing what was happening. He also told me he would give away everything he had just to have Jake back the way he was before and not have him going through all this. In a strange way, it was probably good for him to get all the emotion out. I just hate that as a 9 year old, he's had this much to deal with.

We were really honored to be invited to the ceremony and given the opportunity to publicly thank and recognize the crew in front of their peers. They will always have a very special place in our hearts.