OK ok, I'm going to brag too! I don't have any kids of my own but I see no reason why I can't give out kudos!

My 26 yr nephew has finally achieved his goal -- he is now a City of Calgary firefighter. Long process for him. I first suggested that he get some forest firefighter experience about 5 years ago since he declared his wishes. So for 4 seasons, he signed up with northern Alberta fire fighting, got his EMR training and got on the Helitak rappel team (they are the first guys on the scene, fly in by chopper, rappel in with 80 lbs packs and do the grunt work on the ground). He was was one of the teams hitting the Slave Lake fire that destroyed half the town a couple years ago.

About a year and half ago he finally got started on the process for the City. Firefighter Selection Process. The application process took him over 12 months including rigorous interviews, lie-detector, physical tests, driver training, medical upgrading, etc.) He was accepted as a recruit trainee just before Christmas. And now he passed his training and is now officially on the force! He is still probationary for the next year but he's celebrating. His Grandpa used to be a voluntary FF for a small town and would love nothing better than to be the one to pin his badge on him at his graduating ceremony! I guess the genes run deep in the family.