He was a great firefighter
but an even better Captain.
He brought the best out of everyone
by demanding nothing less.
He was a natural leader,
as anyone who's ever worked with him knows.
He built great firefighters, future Captains.
Maybe even future Chiefs.
But beyond that, he was the best father he could be,
and that wasn't easy to do, especially on his own.
My dad was faced with some pretty terrible choices
when I was a kid.
But he did what he thought was best for me at the time.
Every time.
He chose to protect me above all else.
And while he may have made mistakes...
I have no doubt he'd make them all again
if he thought it was best for me.
It wasn't easy growing up without my mom
and without siblings,
but what I've come to realize is my dad did his best
to give me family.
He created a home at Station 19.
And everyone under his roof was his kid.
[ Laughs ]
So he may have spent years
protecting me from pain and burying his own,
but he did his best to give me the gift of a group of people
who I feel closer to than any blood brother or sister.
He did his best.
He did his best by me.
He loved me.
He stayed.
He stayed with me every minute he could
until he had to leave me to save me one last time.
♪ When you coming down? ♪
Oh, my God. I didn't believe you.
I told you you were crazy.
Well, in fairness to you, I was acting crazy.
You okay?
Yes and no.
I guess...knowing the truth is better than wondering.
But again, I'm -- I'm sorry I wasn't here for you.
No, no.
I took morphine when I woke up.
I needed it. But now I'm afraid.
I'm afraid it's gonna make me crave more of it.
I'm afraid I won't be able to control it.
I need to focus on my recovery.
I spoke to Dr. Shepherd, and she suggested I, uh...
take some space.
From -- From me?
It's just 90 days,
just to get to the meetings, okay,
just to work the steps and get some solid recovery.
You're not supposed to make any big life changes
when you're in early sobriety.
I knew that, and I-I was barely sober.
And you -- you were about to lose your dad.
We had no business getting married.
So -- So, you regret it?
[ Chuckles ] No!
No. And I never will.
But if I want to stay clean, we need some time apart.
90 days.
Yeah. Totally --
Totally separated.
Separated but together, if I want to stay clean.
And do you? I do.
I want to live a long, long life
and love you every minute of it.
♪ I can't be the last one to know ♪
♪ I can't be the last one ♪
♪ The distance runs deep ♪
I love you, Dad.
We all do.
And if there's one thing I wish I could tell you,
it's that I am grateful for you,
because you did your job so well.
♪ And I can't be the last one to know ♪
♪ I can't be the last one ♪
[ Bell tolling ]
♪ 00:04:45.619,00:00:00.000 ♪♪