Lori Greeno -- one of the strongest

Lori is a dear friend of mine. She is such an amazing person and the strength she has to carry on her husband's legacy is amazing. I admire her and only hope to be the Fireman's Wife that she is. She lost her husband in a helicopter crash a few years ago, while he was on a fire assignment in Texas. Her story is amazing and if you ever get to meet her, I pray that you too, will be touched by her spirit.
The other day, I sent her an email because of Vanessa's post on September 2nd. I felt that Lori would be a great resource to ask for advice. Lori did share some of her thoughts in an email to me, so I feel so honored to share them with you all. Hope this helps, Vanessa!!

Reading everyone’s memories on this blog makes me laugh, yet at the same time makes me cry also. All I have left are memories as my very much loved husband, soul mate, best friend, the person who made me complete died in the line of duty in March of 2005. I share these memories with our kids to keep him alive in their minds and hearts. I tell Marcus of how, when he was 3, he ran out of his pants and down a hotel hallway in his underwear with John chasing after him laughing all the way. Montana asks me over and over to tell her about how we came up with her name. She loves that her unique name came about from our love of football, the Niners, and mostly of Joe Montana. I tell her that she was attending Niners games for months before she was born and from the amount of kicking that she did inside me, she was obviously enjoying them as much as John and I did.

As far as memories between John and I – where do I start? Perhaps with the time that he was gone to the Los Padres for the entire month of August with the exception of one day – my birthday. He showed up wholly unexpected (cell phones weren’t in use back then and we were lucky to get a phone call every 4 days or so) the night before and left the morning after. What better present could I have asked for? On the other hand, there was the year that I turned 40. We had several fires going on our forest that August. The helibase was buzzing with activity – 3 helicopters, numerous crews, lots of overhead – the usual for the Forest Service. My birthday came and went with not a word from John. I thought for sure that he would say something when he came home that night, but not a word was spoken. I didn’t want to say anything and make him feel horrible for missing my birthday. Besides, I felt like Molly Ringwald in “16 Candles”. After 2 days, I was getting quite the giggle out of the whole situation, still not saying anything. I knew that he had lots on his mind and any other time this wouldn’t have happened, but how perfect was it that it happened on the big 4-0? The afternoon of the third day our phone rang. In a hushed voice, John said “I forgot your birthday. I’m so sorry baby.” Hearing my laugh over the phone, he knew that he wasn’t in trouble. Then he got irritated. “Why didn’t you say something to me?” I must admit that I am not one of those women who makes a big deal of my birthday, so I wasn’t upset about the whole situation. It has given me something to remember that makes me smile, something that I will always remember. If it had been a regular birthday I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you what happened that year. I heard from the crew a few weeks later that John was walking out to one of the helicopters when he stopped in his tracks. They said that his head and shoulders dropped and he squatted down. Sensing that something was wrong they went out to where he was. He looked up at them and said “Crap, I totally forgot Lori’s birthday”. Now that is a priceless image.

And yet it is the everyday events that are the best memories that we have. Things like hearing John’s truck coming a long time before he actually got home. We would yell “Daddy’s home!” and then race outside to see who would be the first to get a hug.

The times that we would know he was coming home and being at the base to greet him after missing him for weeks. Sticking my nose into his smoky, sweaty nomex and t-shirts just before putting them into the wash, making sure we always had cold beer and a shot of Crown Royal for him when he got home, and watching his helicopter circle our house with it’s siren going to let us know everyone was safe and would be home soon.

Cherish not only the special times in your lives – birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, the birth of children – but the ordinary, seemingly mundane events that we all take for granted. Live well, love strong, and hold each other close. Make every memory a lasting one.