We are wives (girlfriends, fiances, etc) of firefighters.
We know…..
- crazy schedules
- how to perform rescues in our own house while our men are rescuing others
- fear and courage
- smelly fire gear
- that tough guys do have big hearts
- that the fire service is a family that sticks together
Welcome to all of you!
I am Lori Mercer AKA “WifeOnFire” on this site. I have an expensive hobby of collecting interesting domain names so WifeOnFire.com will also get you to this site……I can think of some fun things to do with that URL one day!
Most importantly, I am a proud wife of my firefighter, Dan. Here we are having a silly picture taken by our 5 year old at her birthday party (hence the slight blur – I am a closet avid photographer and this imperfect photo makes me a little uneasy). It would be nice to see my handsome man in uniform but this happened to be the last picture of both of us I could easily grab so there you go!!
Now you see we are “regular people”. Seriously, that is how someone described us once, publicly, to a group of people I didn’t know. At first I was mortified and slightly embarassed. But it has grown on me as I realize most of the world is regular, normal, average, real people. And it’s way better than being called most anything else.
We are raising our crew (as of May 2012 ages 12, 9, 7 and 5) here in Ohio. Where the firefighters are also paramedics and every 3rd day, 24 hours can feel like an eternity. When we were newlyweds and the kids were toddlers and pre-schoolers and I was seemingly always pregnant or nursing non-stop, I thought it would never end.
I don’t know if it got better or if we got used to it, but at times it does seem easier. And at other times when I need 3 of me and 2 tanks of gas and a double latte to get everyone to sports, music and friends houses……..Lord have MERCY!
And that’s why I’m here. I am a techno-geek. Work full time in IT. Make websites as a hobby (for which I occasionally get paid). And as of May 2012, I am the proud new owner / operator of FirefighterWife.com, where you all know exactly what I’m talking about what it’s like to be married to a firefighter.
Ever try to explain to someone why you can’t commit to an every 2nd Tuesday schedule due to your husband’s schedule? Uh huh. Unless you’re married to the guy working that schedule, you just don’t get it.
Has a duty day gone by that the phone rings and you don’t have a premonition that it might be the chief with tragic news? (well, maybe not everyday but if you don’t do this I might have to call you a liar and I don’t want to do that. I want to be your friend.)
Welcome friends. May this online community exemplify the honor and courage of the fire service and be a safe haven for those who are in love with a firefighter.
Because sometimes it has to be about the woman behind the firefighter!
(and don’t worry….Val AKA ”HotWife” will still drop in occasionally……so you don’t forget her, find out “About Val” here….)
I’m so glad you have found my blog. I know from my personal experience it has been therapeutic for me to talk to other wives in the fire industry. But it just wasn’t quite enough for me. So here I am.
My name is Val and I’ve been married to my firefighter for 18 years. We’ve been together for 22 and were high school sweethearts. We had a whole other life before the fire department which makes us even more thankful for him getting hired on. He was in construction and worked so many hours and commuted so much that some weeks we hardly saw him.
Then to top it off he became a volunteer (at the time our department was only volunteer) and that would take him away even more. I didn’t begrudge him that time as he truly loved doing it, but it does take it’s toll. He was a volunteer for about 6 or 7 years before getting hired on paid a little bit after the departments merged. He worked his butt off to get in and I’m so proud of him. We’re going on 5 years now, I think. It kind of runs together now since we wanted it so bad. lol
We have two kids 16 and 14 and they have their own lives now. I’ll probably talk a lot about my dogs as they become my companions when everyone is gone from the house. lol I own my own businesses online. It’s a difficult balance, but so worth it!
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