I applied to be a per diem EMT-I at Fairfax Rescue when Dave was the Vice-President. As such, he was in charge of checking my references.
I learned at Dave's funeral that he liked the idea of "It's not what you know, it's who you know." I guess that is an accurate assessment.
One of my references, unbeknownst to me, was a close friend of Dave's. Either Dave had been his best man, or the other way around – I can't remember now. Dave mentioned this when he called me about the job.
Anyway, it seems Dave called his friend to see if I was any good, and then called me and told me Fairfax Rescue was going to take me on as a 20-year-old per diem EMT-I. Two days after Dave called me, one of my other references called and said, "Someone from Fairfax just called about you." I chuckled and said, "That's funny; they already offered me the job!" That's when I figured out what had happened.
Things came full circle; I am relatively certain that I was Dave's partner on his last EMS call with Fairfax Rescue in the summer of 2013. We responded out to a dead-end of a remote road in Fletcher and then Dave drove us expertly to Fletcher Allen. Dave had been on a leave of absence for a while having just welcomed a new addition to his family. On the way back, we chatted about what he'd been up to, and he said he didn't think he could keep volunteering with Fairfax Rescue; he wanted to spend that time with his new daughter – a bundle of joy who brought a twinkle into his eye.
We all miss you, Dave!
