Am I a Fireman Now?

In Queensland, Australia, a 26-year-old mother
stared down at her 6-year
old son, who was dying of terminal leukaemia.
Although her heart was filled
with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of
determination. Like any
parent, she wanted her son to grow up & fulfil all
his dreams. Now that was
no longer possible. The leukaemia would see to that.
But she still wanted
her son's dream to come true. She took her son's
hand and asked, "Ben, did
you ever think about what you wanted to be once you
grew up? Did you ever
dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

"Mummy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew
up."

Mum smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make
your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire Station in
Brisbane, where she
met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as
Queensland. She explained her
son's final wish and asked if it might be possible
to give her 6-year old son a
ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that.
If you'll have your
son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll
make him an honorary
fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the
fire station, eat with us,
go out on all the fire calls, the full Monty! And if
you'll give us his sizes,
we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real
fire hat - not a toy -one
with the emblem of the Queensland Fire & Rescue
Department on it, a
yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.
They're all manufactured right
here in Brisbane, so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Ben, dressed
him in his uniform
and escorted him from his hospital bed to the
waiting truck.

Ben got to sit on the back of the truck and help
steer it back to the
fire station. He was in heaven. There were three
fire calls in Brisbane that
day and Ben got to go out on all three calls. He
rode in the different fire
engines that day. He was also videotaped for the
local news programme.

Having his dream come true, with all the Love and
attention that was
lavished upon him, so deeply touched Ben, that he
lived three months
longer than any doctor thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop
dramatically and the head
nurse, who believed in the hospice concept - that no
one should die alone,
began to call the family members to the hospital.

Then she remembered the day Ben had spent as a
fireman, so she called
the Fire Station and asked if it would be possible
to send a fireman in
uniform to the hospital to be with Ben as he made
his transition.

The Officer in charge replied, "We can do better
than that. We'll be there
in five minutes. Will you please do me a favour?
When you hear the sirens
screaming and see the lights flashing, will you
announce over the PA
system, that there is not a fire? It's the
department coming to see one of its
finest members one more time. And will you open the
window to his room?

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck
arrived at the hospital
and extended its ladder up to Ben's third floor open
window - 16 fire-fighters
climbed up the ladder into Ben's room.

With his mother's permission, they hugged him and
held him and told him
how much they LOVED him.

With his dying breath, Ben looked up at the fire
chief and said, "Chief,
am I really a fireman now?"

"Ben, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding
your hand," the O.I.C
said. With those words, Ben smiled and said, "I
know, He's been holding my
hand all day, and the angels have been singing.." He
closed his eyes one
last time.

My instructions were to send this to at least four
people that I wanted
the Gods to bless and I picked you.

--Well, I did post it for the whole world to see did I not?
(got it from my mom)