Anonymous

The 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia.Although her heart was filled with sadness,she also had a strong feeling of determination.Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams.Now that was no longer possible.The leukemia would see to that.But,she still wanted her son's dreams to come true.She took her son's hand and asked,"Billy,did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up?Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

"Mommy,I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

Mom smiled back and said,"Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix,Arizona,where she met Fireman Bob,who had a heart as big as Phoenix.She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possibleto give her six year old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.Fireman Bob said,"Look,we can do better than that.If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning,we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day.He can come down to the fire station,eat with us,go out on all the fire calls,the whole nine yards!And if you'll give us his sizes,we'll get a real fire uniform for him,with a real fire hat-not a toy one,but one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it,a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix,so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy,dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station.He was in heaven.There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls.He rode in the different fire engines,the paramedic's van,and even the fire chief's car.He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true,with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him,so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse,who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone,began to call the family members to the hospital.Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman,so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.

The chief replied,"We can do better than that.We'll be there in five minutes.Will you please do me a favor?When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing,will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time.And will you open the window to his room?

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital,extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window and 5 firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room.With his mother's permission,they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him.With his dying breath,Billy looked up at the fire chief and said,"Chief,am I really a fireman now?""Yes,Billy,you are a fireman now."the chief said.

With those words,Billy smiled and closed his eyes one last time.He passed away later that evening.

最小的消防員

佚名

年僅二十六歲的母親凝視著即將被白血病奪去生命的兒子。盡管她的心中充滿了悲痛，但她仍未失去堅強的信念。像天下所有的父母一樣，她希望兒子能長大并且實現所有的夢想?，F在，白血病讓這一切都成為不可能。然而，她還是希望兒子的夢想能實現。她握住兒子的手問道：“比利，你想過長大以后做什么嗎？你夢想或者期望過以后過怎樣的生活嗎？”

“媽媽，我一直希望我長大以后能當一個消防員?！?

媽媽微笑著說：“看看我們能不能讓你夢想成真?！?

之后她就去了亞利桑那州鳳凰城的當地消防署，在那里見到了消防員波比。波比的熱心人人皆知。她給波比講了兒子最后的心愿，請求他讓六歲的兒子坐在消防車上繞消防署一周。波比說：“我們可以做得更多。如果你能讓你兒子在周三早上七點準備就緒，我們可以讓他當一整天光榮的消防隊員。他可以來消防隊和我們一起進餐，接到警報后和我們一起外出執行任務，從頭至尾！另外如果你告訴我們他衣服的尺寸，我們會為他定做一套真正的消防制服，包括一頂真正的消防員的帽子——可不是玩具，而是有鳳凰城消防署徽章的帽子，一件我們穿的那種黃色雨衣，還有一對膠靴。這些東西都在鳳凰城制造，因此我們能很快拿到。”

三天后波比去接小比利，幫他穿上消防制服，護送他從醫院的病床到等待中的云梯消防車。比利坐在消防車的后座，幫著掌控方向盤，開回消防隊。他快樂極了，如同置身天堂。那天鳳凰城共有三個火警電話，比利也執行了三次任務。他乘上了不同的消防車，包括醫療救護車，甚至消防隊長的車。他還上了當地的電視新聞。

在源源不斷的愛和關懷下，比利的夢想實現了。深受感動的比利存活時間比醫生預言的延長了整整三個月。有一天晚上他所有的生命體征都開始急劇地減弱。領班的護士為了不讓可憐的小比利獨自一人離去，開始打電話通知比利的家人到醫院。然后她又想起比利當消防員的那天，于是打電話給消防隊長，問他是否可以派一名交完班的穿制服的消防員到醫院來陪伴比利。

隊長回答說：“我們可以做得更多。我們五分鐘后就能趕到那里。你能幫我一個忙嗎？當你聽到警笛鳴叫，看到警燈閃爍的時候，你能在廣播系統里宣布沒有發生火災嗎？這只是消防署的全體工作人員最后一次來看望我們最優秀的消防隊員之一。還有，你能把他房間的窗戶打開嗎？”

大約過了五分鐘，一輛云梯消防車到達了醫院，云梯伸展到比利所在的三樓房間敞開的窗戶前，五個消防隊員沿著云梯爬進比利的房間。在媽媽的同意下，消防隊員們抱著、摟著比利，告訴比利他們是多么愛他。在呼吸快要停止的時候，比利望著消防隊長，說：“隊長，我現在是一個真正的消防隊員了嗎？”“是的，比利，現在你是一個真正的消防隊員?！标犻L回答說。

聽到這些話，比利微微地笑了，他合上了雙眼。那天晚上他平靜地走了。

感悟托起孩子的夢想，生命就會微笑。