I’d like to introduce you to my family, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and I’m the (oldest? youngest?) the one in the? _________________ . My Mom’s name is Jameela, she’s 43 years old and she works in the Ministry of Education. And the family member I want to talk to you about today is my Dad. His name is Mahmoud, he’s 48 years old and he’s a firefighter.
My Dad works long hours and sometimes it’s hard when he’s gone for a while. I remember when I was younger, I was about 9, and he was working on a Sunday, some of my friends and I went to the park for a game. After a bit, we noticed that there was some smoke nearby and so we went to see what was going on. All a sudden there were lots of sirens coming closer and closer. We saw a big group of people and ran over. There were two big fire trucks and a couple of police cars. It was a house on fire!

The fireman were all geared up and they were spraying the roof. Then we heard a voice yelling that there was someone in the house. It was strange for me because even though I knew this was what my Dad did I hadn’t been to a real fire before. Anyway, it was almost like a movie and it was in slow motion even though it was noisy and smokey. Just then a couple of the firemen went into the house. It was really tense and everyone got quiet. Suddenly they were running out of the house, one fireman was carrying a little girl and the other was carrying an old man. And then it was loud with people cheering and talking. And me? Well, I was just watching the fireman holding the little girl. And even before he took off the mask, I knew, I knew in my heart, it was my Dad.

The thing I learned that day was that while I still missed my Dad when he wasn’t home, I didn’t get mad at him for it anymore. And it also helped me understand that what my Dad does is really important, and even though he doesn’t save a life every single day, he did that day, and I actually got to see it. I know I’m lucky and proud to have such a special memory.