Two Heroes

PROLOGUE Sister

 Hello everyone. I want to thank you all for coming to this memorial service for Marie. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Samantha. Marie was only thirty-four when she was taken from us. She was my best friend who I always considered a sister. As a friend, she was there for you and always backed you up. As a family member she loved you and made you laugh. Especially as a big sister. I know she took on the responsibility of taking care of her brother, Nicholas at a young age when her father abandoned the family. She put her brother before her own happiness. She put her family before friends. She put her friends before herself. She never put herself first unfortunately. I feel like if she did we all wouldn't be here today. Marie was never a selfish person. She was the least selfish person I knew, which is why I find it unfair that she went like this. Yet, it's ironic. She wasn't putting herself first. — She wanted to risk her life for others.

I knew Marie for thirty years. She struggled with her own demons, but you would never be able to tell. She wouldn't tell you either. Marie never wanted anyone feeling sorry for her or to get dragged into her problems. She was always a hard worker, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do since she was young. Some of us didn't know what to do with our lives until after we graduated college with a degree that meant nothing to us. When you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up they say what they know like cop, firefighter, astronaut, singer, actor and so on, but when you asked that question to Marie and when she told you that she wanted to be a cop, she meant it. Marie was a hard worker and didn't stop until she was satisfied. When she was eleven years old, she joined summer boot camps, train like a cop. When she was thirteen, she joined the JROTC in high school so she could keep training harder. Then she joined a cadet program at precinct 2122, and she dedicated her free time to training to be a cop and helping the community. Back in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy struck, Marie was on police task force trucks delivering water bottle cases, canned food, and blankets in crisis zones. She was organizing Hurricane Sandy relief safety and recovery zones and comforting those who lost more than their homes.

She lost interest in becoming a police officer when cops starting forgetting their training and taking lives of innocent people because of the color of their skin. Marie realized that firefighting was a more selfless job. Her Uncle Joey really inspired her to go into the field. She looked up to him, as if he was a hero. The short amount of time that Marie did have a father in her life, he told her that she wouldn't be able to be a cop or a firefighter for the simple fact that she was a girl. That only sparked a fire in Marie to prove him wrong. She made it a goal to prove to society that the stereotypical image of being a firefighter was untrue. She wanted to go to the fire department, she started working out even harder. She would ask people in the fire department what she could do to increase her chances getting in. They all told her to start running — so she did. Running at the gym wasn't enough for her, so she joined her high school track team and competed. Every time she was asked what her goals were after college she would confidently say, "I'm going to be a firefighter." The looks she would get by saying that always made her want to get into the fire department more. Men who asked her were always shocked and their question would be if 'she was sure'. Marie was never discouraged when people would tell her that she wasn't cut out for he job or that she would die being a firefighter.

She applied for the fire department test back in 2017. Took the test that fall, and was called back in 2021. At age twenty one she had achieved her life goal of being a firefighter, and she couldn't have been happier. I can never understand the mentality Marie had to want to run straight into a fire that everyone else was running away from, but that's what she did. It made her happy knowing she was saving lives and helping others. She knew the dangers that came with the job but she didn't care. — All she cared about was saving lives. I remember a few months ago, we were out for brunch and she was telling me that she never got tired of the rush of adrenaline when the sirens went off, knowing she had to run to get her gear on and hop in the truck to follow whatever danger called for her. Then she told me that she was guaranteed a chief position in Brooklyn come September.