9-18-15,  DAY 157

John was a friend and a mentor, my first Battlion Chief and at the time a guy who could drink beer like I did, which was at the time was A LOT!  I didn't know he had been sick.  Another brother I had lost touch with over the years.  RIP my Amigo!

We sadly share the passing of retired Lt. John S. Garrett on Saturday September 12, 2015; he fought a courageous battle with a number of illnesses and was under the care of Hospice.

Lt. Garrett started his career in the fire service as a Firefighter with the Taft Fire Control District in 1974. He retired in 2000 as an Orange County Fire Rescue Department Lieutenant assigned at Fire Station 36. He was riding BC the day when Mark and Todd lost their lives in the line of duty, back in February 24, 1989.

He was a hardworking firefighter and a good friend to many. He will be sorely missed.

Memorial Service
Thursday September 24, 2015 - 6:00pm
Baldwin-Fairchild Conway Funeral Home
1413 South Semoran Boulevard, Orlando FL 32807

Please keep John in your hearts and prayers.

DAY 153

Ok I am going to go back to Day 140 and give you the daily squats from there.  I noticed I hadn't gone back in a while so here goes.

Mon, Day 140- 20" Box Sqt, 205# x 2, 295# x 1, 345 x1

Tues, Day 141- 18" Box Sqt, 135 x 5, 205 x 3, 255 x 2, 315 x 1, 335 x 1

Wed, Day 142- 18" Box Sqt, 135 x 10, 205 x 3, 255 x 2, 295 x 1, 345 x 1

Thurs, Day 143- 20" Box Sqt, 225 x 3, 315 x 1, 345 x 1

Fri, Day 144- 18" REVERSE BAND Box Sqt, 225 x 10, 315 x 5, 365 x 3, 405 x 3, 455 x 1, 500# x 1

Sat, Day 145- 18" Box Sqt, 205 x 5, 225 x 3, 275 x 3, 325 x 3, 350 x 3

Sun, Day 146 - 20" Box Sqt, 210 x 1, 260 x 1, 310 x 1, 340 x 1

Mon, Day 147- 18' Box Sqt, Bar x 10, 95 x 10, 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 195 x 5, 270 x 3, 285 x 3, 300 x 3, 340 x 1

Tues, Day 148- 18" Box Sqt/ Safety Sqt Bar, 135 x 6, 225 x 3, 275 x 2, 315 x 1, 345 x 1

Wed Day 149- 20" Box Sqt, Bar x 10, 95 x 10, 145 x 5, 195 x 3, 245 x 3, 295 x 1, 345 x 1

Thurs, Day 149- 16" Box Sqt, 95 x 10, 145 x 8, 195 x 4, 245 x 1, 295 x 1, 345 x 1

Fri, Day 150- 20" Box Sqt, 135 x 5, 205 x 3, 275 x 1, 345 x 1

Sat, Day 151- 20" Box Sqt, 135 x 5, 205 x 3, 275 x 1, 345 x 1, 375 x 1

Sun, Day 152- 18" Box Sqt, 135 x 10, 205 x 2, 275 x 1, 345 F, 345 x 1

Mon, Day 153- 20" Box Sqt 135 x 5, 225 x 3, 275 x 1, 345 x 1

That catches us up to today!!!!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and tomorrow or Wed I will be posting some pics from 343 and let ya know how it went.  God Bless!

                                                                                 

9/8/2015

In 4 days we will be hosting the 3rd, 343 Hero Challenge.  In all reality this will be the last one that I will be taking part in as a employed firefighter of Orange County.  I haven't thought much about this and hopefully won't think much about the truth in those words until later down the road.  I can still remember my first shift day and it really doesn't feel like 30 years has gone by.  But taking a quick look back A LOT has happened during this time of being a "FIREFIGHTER"....23 days after the "343" I will be having a double total knee replacement and during this time I plan on taking more time to write and get the web site up and get caught up with ya'll.  It is also hard to believe this journey has gone on for 6 MONTHS STRAIGHT  with no missed days of squats!  I attribute the "NO missed days" to you all who keep me going and the families as well as, Shakey and JP themselves.  I don't have enough toes and fingers to count how many times I had to talk myself into squatting...I am ashamed of this but I gotta get it out.  At least once a week I had a good excuse not to, this past month I've had and still have a strained groin, so I have been doing mainly box squats because trying to go down deep is almost impossible...but you see I have excuses and resources where as the 2 brother's have what they have and that's that!  There's no "Hey let's do this treatment a lil different today Doc so I don't puke as much" or "how bout we take a couple days off so I can rest up a bit then go at it hard again" ...This is how I am trying to arrange my thinking when someone says Hey -Bull ease up you have been going at this for 6 months!  Give yourself a break!...WHY I ask should I?  I decided to take this journey to suffer a little with Shakey so every day he didn't have to be alone, then a month or so in I was blessed with getting JP too...so my question is .."WHY" should I ease up?  My thought's are this - what can we do now to try to raise more funds, raise more awareness for whats going on here.  I started this with the thought of 30 years has flown by...but the funny thing is the one thought that still remains is that we firefighters are invincible, and I can't put my finger on why I would still believe that.  I have seen so many friends/brother's taken from us way too soon and....wait!  maybe that's why - "TAKEN"  because I feel like they have been taken from me, from us, not that they passed away but they were TAKEN!... So Invincible makes sense...unbreakable, tough as nails, bad to the bone, proud and yet humble...loving and honest to a fault yet fearless but afraid at times.  And incredibly INSANE and CERTIFIABLE...but we get paid to what the sane will not do!  A firefighter is ALL of these and more because this job demands this from us... if you are going to be great at it.  We spend our lives taking care of total strangers and neglect our own at times...then when we get sick we take care of each other.  Sometimes we try to make believe our brother's aren't sick because then that means we are not as unbreakable as we thought.  Vicious circle.  ....WOW that was a lil tangent there.  Ok Here is a formal invite to all of ya'll who are free this coming Sat morning (Sept.12th) to come out and cheer on the athlete's taking part in the 343 Hero Challenge...there is nothing like this anywhere and I will promise you that you will enjoy it.  If you get there early enough to see the opening ceremonies I will guarantee that you will be moved as the Honor Guard does an amazing tribute to the "Fallen" and it sounds like this years guards will be beefed up with more participating.  Then some speeches from our leaders and then the games begin...I'll be some where in the middle of the room yelling at people and trying to keep up with the Mighty Silverback...but do me a favor and find me and tell me that your reading this blog and that you are praying for Shakey and JP and their families!   Can you do that for me?  That way I know...................

343 HERO CHALLENGE 2015

Tributes... Dedications... that is what is coming this week.  We will never forget that horrible day when terrorists attacked America. In 7 days - we will see many of you at the 2015 343 Hero Challenge at the OCFR Training Facility and Command School located at 2976 Forsyth Rd. Winter Park, FL 32792.  Opening ceremonies is one like no other - be there sharply at 8am and you won't miss out! ~ Rachel

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 Here is a short clip of Bull's squats today to inspire us all - he is truly dedicated to keeping funds flowing to help the families of Shakey and JP!  ~ Rachel