The Night the Angel was born

I knew something was wrong when I heard the Fire Dispatcher come over the fire radio saying, "Requesting mutual aid from the Port Washington Fire Department, one ambulance to respond to the scene of an accident on Glen Cove Road in Greenvale." Within minutes after hearing this, my phone was ringing, and I was thinking, "please don't let it be anyone I know." When I picked up the phone, my step mom was on the other end asking to speak to my mom. Her voice was calm and normal, but deep down inside of me I knew something had to be wrong since they never spoke to each other very often.

When my mom got off the phone, she sat me down on the couch and all I had to do was look at her, her eyes told me everything, the call was for someone I knew. Her eyes were so mesmerized and lost I could tell that she really didn't want to tell me what was going on, but I knew deep down inside of her what she was going to tell me was going to change my life forever. My mother no sooner turned to me and said, "something has happened to one of the guys in your dads fire department.

A blank and ghostly appearance came over me, since I knew everyone in my dads fire department and they were all like family to me since they always looked out for me. Never in my mind did I think that it would have been someone that I was so close to. We no sooner got a phone call again. But this time I couldn't answer the phone I was what it seemed to be paralyzed. This phone call that we received was saying that there were two firefighters struck by a vehicle. No sooner did we find out that the driver was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

When I asked my mom who it was, my mom just looked at me with these poignant and perturbed eyes and said, "Al Frye and Chris Boffa." My heart sank into my stomach just like the Titanic did in the Atlantic Ocean since I was so close to these two guys. I knew it was bad, but the thought of loosing one of them never really came into my mind. At 9:43 that night an angel was born, my good friend and role model Al Frye had succumbed to serious blunt force trauma and internal injuries.

When the news of his death finally struck me, I broke down and lost it. Tears kept flowing from my eyes like the current that flows in the river. My mom tried to control me and say that everything would be all right, but I knew everything wouldn’t be all right, since he had three kids and a wife that loved him very much. He also had many people in the fire department as well as the community that looked up to him as a role model. I kept saying in my mind over and over again, No this can’t be happening, Al can’t be gone!

The next day I awoke from a rough night’s sleep. Everytime I would fall asleep, I would see Al, and hear his voice and his famous laugh. His laugh was one of a kind. No one in the world had the kind of laugh that Al had. I remembered the one time I was sitting in the fire house watching the Super Bowl with everyone, and we were all just watching the television and then out of nowhere this really deep and loud laugh came out of no where. Al was also known as "Big Al", because of his big laugh and big heart. His laugh is a laugh that will always remain in my heart.

The thought of going to his funeral made my stomach hurt, but I knew that I had to do it, I had to say my final good bye to my good friend and role model. As we pulled up to the funeral home, the first thing I saw was the two Arial trucks from the fire department with a big American Flag draped down from the top of both ladders with his truck that he always drove around town for work underneath it. On the drivers side of the truck they had put his name "Big Al."

The hardest thing I had faced so far, was the reality that I would never see him again, and that he would never be able to make me laugh anymore. But that soon was the easiest thing to face. The hardest thing to face now was to walk up to the casket that my friend laid in motionless and lifeless. The room with the casket was filled with so many flowers and people you could barely move. The flowers were so bright, colorful, and full just like how Al lived his life, to the fullest and always bright. I knew that Al meant a lot to many people, but I never knew he had such an impact on this many people.

Walking up to the casket, I took my mom’s hand and squeezed it tight. When I eventually got up the casket I looked at Al, I said to him softly, "This was never meant to be, you are such an amazing person and role model, you shouldn’t be lying there right now, you should be with your family and friends." I turned away and walked out of the room. Deep down inside of me, I knew that Al was listening to me and that he would always be looking out for me no matter what.

As I walked out of the room, my friend Dave hugged me and we just cried in each other’s arms. Through all the years I have known Dave, I have never seen him cry. With both of our tears running down our faces, we made a pact that we would succeed in life and always work hard for ourselves as well as Al, because Al wouldn’t want his death to effect the way we lived our lives.

The day of his funeral, is a day that I will always remember and never forget. When we first pulled up to the church, again the first thing I noticed again was the Aerial Ladder Trucks from the Fire Department with the American Flag hanging down from the top. We walked into the church and took our seats, and just as they took our seats the bagpipes started to play and my heart began to break all over again.

Throughout the whole ceremony, there were many speeches about Al and how big his heart was and how enjoyed his family and being a firefighter. One speech that tore me apart and made me shed tears during the funeral was a speech giving by his friend and Chief of the Fire Department Peter Liotta. In his speech he said, "I always asked Al why he was always so happy, and he would always reply, because life is great." That’s what Al was always known for living his life to the fullest, and always taking care of people, even people he didn’t know too well.

The closing to the ceremony was with the end of Peters speech saying, "Ashley, A.J. and little Taylor Paige, your daddy loved the Roslyn Rescue Fire Department as he did you." And it was true even if he is gone; he will always love his family and the Roslyn Rescue Fire Department.

Captain Allen R. Frye you will always and forever be missed, but you will always remain in our hearts. WE LOVE YOU