Sometimes your trajectory in life is usurped by chaos. Take my friend Pierre Surprenant, for example, who, a few days ago, lost his life while doing something mundane…something he must have done a hundred times…yet something so dangerous that it is one of the basic courses for all firefighters. The “Ladders” course is all about how to raise a ladder safely and effectively. I know he knew exactly what to do and how to do it. I know he took all the precautions necessary. But chaos theory will prove that, no matter how much you know, or how much you prepare, there is serendipity that comes along every now and then that makes you take a left turn in your life. And left turns are never done without danger.
One thing you learn, very quickly, when you work in any emergency service, is that life is full of tragic left turns. One moment you are thinking of the mundane, like whether you have any clean socks to wear, and the next you are balancing between life and death. An instant is all it takes, and it doesn’t really matter what you are doing because there are left turns everywhere in life. One of the first things a young buddhist learns, I am told, is that life is not fair. It’s not. But I take comfort in the fact that some people leave big footprints…my friend did, and many of us are better human beings because of it. Rest in peace, my brother.