Growing up with a parent as a firefighter means you will spend countless holidays and birthdays at a fire station hoping to catch a few minutes with your loved one between calls. It means learning about fire trucks and hearing the endless stories about co-workers. It means having an intimate insight into a world most don’t see after the shift has ended. It means stricter rules than your friends because your parents have seen the worst possible things happen to children. And sometimes it means following in your parent’s footsteps and becoming a firefighter yourself. There is no bigger compliment than when your child wants to be just like you even after they are ten years old. Parents, especially fathers, are often a child’s first hero.