Pete Hypes
"Never Leave Your Partner"
By
Jun 25, 2008 - 10:23:21 AM

The fire service that I joined in the ’70s has changed a great deal over the years. Truck companies used to perform their jobs as individuals, where today, we are mandated to work together. Since truck companies are always staffed at three, the truck crew inside is the officer and the jump seat firefighter. If one stays, you both stay; if one leaves, you both leave. The reason for this is that statistics dealing with firefighter death and injuries have indicated that one of the leading causes is when firefighters get separated from their crew, or are working alone. Though you would not think that it would be hard to learn this, I constantly have to be reminded that you never leave your partner. In fact, on my last evaluation, my battalion chief reminded me again to maintain crew integrity at all times.

 The life and death issue of this relates in other areas of our lives as well. Though I will only speak from the perspective of public safety, the statistics concerning divorce are running rampant in our society. For purposes of definition, partners in marriage are husband (male), and wife (female). God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman for a lifetime. In my 32+ years in the fire service, I have seen many marriages end in divorce. Divorce is a debilitating part of our lives. My question is why would anyone want to put himself or herself through this. It seems to be the norm, rather than the exception for people to end a covenant relationship in divorce. Divorce damages and sometimes destroys the lives of those directly involved, as well as the lives of those indirectly involved. What if we took on the same philosophy that the fire service has adopted, where we never leave our partner? Instead of seeing divorce as an answer, look at divorce as something that needs to be eradicated from our society.

I could talk about things that lead to divorce, but I will simply leave it as a lack of communication that two people experience once they have fallen out of love with one another. A greater part of this is that many people marry, leaving God, the one who ordained marriage, out of it. I would venture to say that divorce is a billion dollar industry for some. What does this say about the American way?

I believe that the erosion of the family is weakening not only the fire service, but also America as a whole. We must change the way that we think. Divorce is not the answer, but a furthering of the problem. For information about a riveting movie on fireproofing your marriage, go to fireproofthemovie.com. For the sake of our children, and ourselves let’s fix this.

My wife Becky and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in October. I cannot say that I have been a model husband, but my wife and I have always agreed to work things out. Divorce is not a part of our vocabulary, and it does not have to be a part of yours.       

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