Detroit - Toledo & Cleveland

Okay, it takes a while to get thru all of this and get the new stuff up, and I need to be spanked for delaying this long ...  Having said that ...

DETROIT ~~  What a surprise they had for us here!  We thought we would be doing a quick in & out, and only be speaking with one representative of the DFD ... WRONG!!!

Talk about class acts!  We arrived on a beautiful sunny day, right around noon. Andre greeted us, got the van pulled in off the street, and we began showing him a bit of what had preceded this stop.  We thought he was the "whole show" in Detroit, and we were fine just being there.  But he stopped us and suggested we come upstairs and meet some folks and join them for lunch.

Bet our jaws dropped.  Because the room was filled with firefighters from headquarters and beyond ... including the Chaplain, who is a hoot!  (Love that guy!)  And spread out on the big tables in the middle of the room were shirts ... Lots of shirts!  Each had a letter attached with a message from the DFD.  It was evident that they had really stepped up for the Troops ... and here we thought they were barely aware of our efforts!  Sigh. 

Even better, there were these little fire helmets that made JeeNee and I laugh because all we could think of was the "Mad Hatters" of St Louis!

The Chief was a crack up, posing for us in his office with Sharen and just being a great sport!  They gave us a wonderful tour of the department, and you can see the evident pride in their history of the DFD and far they have come.  It is quite impressive.

We had a wonderful lunch of chinese food, that they ordered in.  And we loved the photo ops with this bunch.  The Chaplain had us in stitches posing for his pictures!  He was trying to look tough, but you could see that twinkle in his eyes!  Listening to him speak of Heroes was something that has stayed with me.  He is just a truly cool guy!

They even brought Sparky out and before you know it, lil Ms Sharen was flirting with him, and they drove off together into the bay.  The guys did some real Detroit-Style pics for us on their rig outside, as cars drove by and ho and waved at them out there in the sunshine.  Sadly, we had to say farewell too soon.

So we pulled Sharen away from Sparky, loaded up the van ... including a special shirt from their Chaplain to a military Chaplain, that will go out in the next shipment... and we were off to Toledo.  Detroit ... YOU ROCK!  And YES, we would very much love to come back and spend more time on a future tour!

TOLEDO ~~ We have been here every year so far on the the national tour, and every time they have opened the door and let us in ... gotta love that!  lol

This has never been a big activity visit, but we always have a good time.  This time it was unique in that for the most part it was the families of the firefighters who entertained us.  The alarm went off, and the crew followed just as we had begun getting the BadA** shots.  No worrries, when the Dads left, the kids stepped in and assumed the Attitude for us.  We think they did a great job.  The Moms were having fun watching the kids come up with new ideas for things to do with the bears ... and all we had to do was click, they had it all in control!

It's always nice for us to get to see kids on the road, it reminds us of home and getting hugs from the little ones is always a special time after being away so long.  These kids obviously knew the station well, and were all about showing us how to do the cool stuff.

While we thought they were all special, there was a young lady, young Gabrielle, who touched our hearts with her quiet smile and beautiful eyes.  You meet her right around picture #127.  Wanna really be a HERO?  Take the time to read about her and check out her website ...

"Gabrielle's Gems was started in October 2005 by Angie Segura to help
offset the medical expenses of her daughter Gabrielle's neurological
testing, physical therapy, and personal equipment needed.  Fifty
percent of the profits are directed to a special account to help
Gabrielle live a happy and healthy life that is as close to normal as
possible.  Your support for Gabrielle through Gabrielle's Gems is
greatly appreciated." 

You can contact them at ... gabriellesgems@buckeye-express.com

Thank you Toledo, it was good to see you all again.  And wonderful to meet your families.  Take care of Gabrielle and our other young friends.  We will see you again!

CLEVELAND ~~ WE LOVE CLEVELAND!!!  Been there every year, and hope to see them every time we can!  And every year, our Hero has been Mike Rosepal (& his wife Shelley).  Mike was the first to open the door to me back on the first time around.  He organized their shirt drive and sent us a lot of great shirts!

We've haven't seen a lot of Cleveland, just the firehouses & some pretty great firefighters, and that has worked out just perfectly.  We have stayed with the Rosepal family and had meals with them  ... SHE can cook!!!  (We still want the recipe for the chicken.)  And the kids & friends are fun, too.  We've gotten our hair done, and been pampered here, so it's always fun!

We've visited a different firehouse each time we've gone to Cleveland, and kind of like the trend.  Don't know how many houses they have there, but as long as they will have us, we'll go back!

So Mike get those shirts collected, we have more Troops who want them this year.  And save us some ice cream ... can't remember the name of the stuff - feel free to let us know in the comments section, cuz that's some GOOD eatin'!

Thank you all ... Detroit, Toledo & Cleveland ... we salute you all!

lj

PS ... Sharen sends her best to Sparky, she still gets misty-eyed looking at their pictures.  ( ;