Friday, July 22, 2011

Heaven Needed a Hero

Jason Parker died last night. Think. Repeat. Nope still doesn't work. Still doesn't make sense. The only thing I can figure is that Heaven needed a Hero. Though I only met him about a year ago he definitely made an impression on me. Never has someone tried so hard to conceal their absolute enthusiasm for healing nature of our calling as much as him. Even though he tried to hide it he could never quite get that crooked grin off his face and you just knew he loved it. You don't see that fire burning in everyone ya know!

Last week he told me that he finally loved his job again because he felt like he made a difference in people lives. He loved the feeling- the feeling that we all know- the feeling when we do make a difference.

When you look back on our history in EMS you remember the great ones. The ones that trained us, helped us, yelled at us, cried with us, and celebrated when we earned our stripes. Then we look towards the future....towards what Jason represented.

It is my goal as a paramedic, instructor, mentor, and friend to light the fire in others that burns in me. I want to replace myself and the others with a future generation of medics that can carry on the tradition of family, unity, love, and support that we have established here in our little corner of the woods.

Jason Parker was the future star. He had that spark going that would turn into a brilliant blaze to light up his future and all it held for him.

Now though, things have changed.

I would give anything if I could walk in my office and find him sitting in my chair with a stack of ECG's and 12 Leads to interpret or to go over a call with him. But I know that is not going to happen. Things change, things don't go our way, sometimes we understand it, often times we don't. But we accept things because we have to. We say that there must have been a reason for it. Here is my justification...

Heaven needed a Hero.

5 comments:

  1. As long as there are people like you to remember him in posts like this, he's still here.

    And all of us who didn't know him get to see his light shine, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sad that I was introduced to your blog this way... But my thoughts go out to you guys who knew this bright star. As a "new gen" kid myself, I truly admire those of us who burn brightly with our fresh sparks of enthusiasm. I'm a Greenie Weenie from the SouthEast- Jason is on all of our minds here in the Houma area.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you so much for Sharing Christie. Jason is my baby brother. We were so proud of him. I miss him so much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I miss him so much too...Everyday I see reminders of him...I have his twizzlers hanging on my bulletin board...can't throw them away...He is loved...and he is watching over all of us now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember a time when I looked after him about 10 years ago and had to fight with him to get off the computer and get his homework done and he would get mad at me and yell and then go to his room and slam the door. It's funny now but it sure wasn't then,he made so mad sometimes that I could have wrung his neck but I loved him as though he were one of my own.

    ReplyDelete