In case you don’t know, my husband is a hardworking EMT. He is seriously the most hard-working person I know. He is diligent, patient and I hardly ever hear him complain.
Two years ago he got his EMT certification and started working for a company in Columbus. This company does private care, so Theo works with patients that are stable, but often need special medical transport. He drives the ambulance and does patient care. Many jobs are 9-5 jobs, but take a moment and thank all those places that need employees 24/7. Hospitals, for one. Due to the nature of his work, Theo works a 24 hr shift. This most certainly has its pros and its cons. Theo is gone for 24 hours, but then he gets to be home for 48. Theo is “on call” for 24 hours, but this often means he is waiting at the station for a call to come in, so he has some time to get other things done (or to sleep!) while he is at work. The major con is that Theo is gone for 26+ hours (24 hour shift plus the drive time) at a time. Theo’s company does not offer vacation days or sick days. If he wants a day off, it has to be arranged well beforehand. If he calls off that day, or leaves the station while on his shift, he gets a point. A point isn’t a big deal, but when they add up, he gets fired. So I hate making him come home during a shift.
It seems like whenever he is gone, something goes majorly wrong at home. These things don’t seem to happen when he is at home (or maybe he just handles them so much better than me!). Anyways, I keep joking that I’m going to write a book about all the things that have happened while Theo is gone. So instead of sitting on my butt and just *thinking* about writing it, I decided I would begin by making it a series of blog posts- When Theo is Gone.
Please understand that I don’t mean this to be complaining. I mean it to be humorous. I want you to read it and laugh. Laugh at us crazy young’uns who seem to always have adventures. If you are parents with young ones at home, I want you to read it and laugh and nod your head and agree that these things never seem to happen when we are prepared for them. I want you to read and laugh. At this point, the things that happen when Theo are gone end up being funny. Maybe not in the moment, but afterwards…I just think to myself, “What are the chances of this happening when Theo is gone??” Here is a little sneak peak at some of the events that have happened when Theo is at work:
- A dead furnace
- The tornado
- The time I went into labor
- The ER
- The trip to Michigan
- Broken down
- The funeral
- The un-constipated poop
- Stuck in a snow bank
- Moving In
- Stranger in my backyard
- Church
- The phone call you never want to get
- Dropping off Mommy and Daddy
I will try to post one of these stories on a weekly basis. I’m excited to share these stories with you and hopefully give you a little chuckle! And hey…if you have any stories of your own to contribute, feel free to send them my way! I’d love to hear them, and have a little laugh at your situation, too. š