April 29, 2014 was dad's retirement ceremony from the New Braunfels Fire Department. It was a week night, and Matt wasn't able to get off, but I headed down to NB and Reid came too.
There was a flag lowering ceremony at the Plaza and then a reception following.
The flag lowering was very somber and emotional, one of the speakers joked at the reception that we needed to remember this wasn't a funeral! Nonetheless, it was really nice and the mayor and city manager had nothing but wonderful things to say about dad's time in New Braunfels.
Dad's good friend X presented dad with a really nice axe and Darren, the Assistant Fire Chief also spoke.
Dad also said a few words and I think he did a great job. I tried to take a few notes, so here was the gist :) "Lesson's learned in the past 23 years:
1. have gratitude
2. practice humility
3. leave your ego outside the room
4. strive to leave a place better than your found it
5. forgiveness is important, including forgiving yourself"
He put it much more eloquently than I listed here, but I think he did a great job and I was really proud to hear what everyone had to share about their time working with my dad.
I love this one! We are so proud of you dad! You have clearly made an impact on this community and the people that live and work there. I hope you enjoy wherever life takes you next!
There were two articles the city media also put out:
No comments:
Post a Comment