Lance's Funeral

We had Lance's funeral on June 20, 2007. It was rough and I lost it a few times. I kept my composure until we were standing guard of the casket while all the friends and family said goodbye in the funeral home. Lance's mom broke down and cried and screamed. I had tears.

We held the casket which wasn't as heavy as I thought, and the two doors to the funeral home opened up to the entire Lodi Fire Department saluting us. I wanted to cry but kept my composure.

We went to the firehouse where we backed in and they raised the bay doors for his final call. The Lodi dispatcher read off a great speech which i put on LodiFire.com, and I watched as grown men wept like kids.

We brought him to the crematorium and that was that. I never completely lost composure but I had eyes full of tears the entire day - especially at the church where the friends and family touched the casket to say goodbye and AJ handed Maggie Lance's helmet. I've seen that in movies, recently in Ladder 49, but to see it in life touches your heart. It was very hard to experience.