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BY BETHANY KILPATRICK/Contributing Writer
Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are traditionally celebrated in the comfort of one’s home, surrounded by the ones they love most. However, not all have the luxury of slipping away from their place of work.
Essential workers and their families in Erath County make sacrifices every holiday season to ensure the safety and care of its community members.
Jeremy Woodruff is the chief deputy at Erath County’s Sheriff’s Office in Stephenville and has worked on multiple holidays in past seasons.
“The patrol division covers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Woodruff said. “It is quite common that if that holiday happens on our day of work, we will be here.”
The special time of year often brings on special types of emergent situations requiring the aid of first responders.
“A lot of families get together, and sometimes unfortunately there are conflicts, and they need us to go help,” Woodruff said. “Sometimes there are domestics and we have to go and respond [to].”
Holiday traveling and poor weather conditions often produce crucial scenes that require a professional’s service.
“With holidays there is always traffic, and so because of traffic, there are motor vehicle crashes. It requires us to go and respond to those crashes and assist those citizens as well,” Woodruff said. “One Christmas I had to come in and help with dispatch because we had a number of motor vehicle crashes because it was weather related.”
JD Gambino is a firefighter and paramedic at the Stephenville Fire Department and works on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day typically every three years.
“Our services are essential all the time,” Gambino said. “Emergencies don’t consider holidays when they decide to occur.”
Tye Box is the captain of patrol and dispatch at the Erath County’s Sheriff’s Office. He has been in law enforcement for 17 years and has worked roughly a dozen times on a holiday during his career.
“I had two Christmas days in a row that I had to work a death first thing that morning,” Box said. “You don’t get to schedule when you die.”
Box’s family adjusts their holiday schedule to fit his work schedule when necessary.
“There have been some times when I worked Christmas Eve nights,” Box said. “I would work all night long and come home Christmas morning, and then they [my family] would wait to open presents until I woke up at noon or 1:00 p.m. You just adjust.”
Essential workers not being able to celebrate the holidays traditionally comes with mental and emotional challenges.
“Being away from my family is difficult, especially with a young son,” Gambino said. “Over the years it has just become part of the job though. We don’t get too upset about what we can’t control.”
Gambino’s coworkers and their families still keep their spirits merry and bright though by being flexible.
“We always celebrate with each other at the fire station,” Gambino said. “Sometimes our family gets to come and help us celebrate at the fire station.”
Regardless of the hardships that Erath County first responders may experience, they take great pride in being of service to their citizens.
“My job is the most rewarding job there is,” Gambino said. “We get asked to help people on their worst days and sometimes on their best days. I have delivered babies as well as delivered the news to families that their loved one has passed on.”
Erath County’s first responders’ sacrifices do not go unappreciated or unnoticed.
“We will see our citizens in restaurants, and sometimes they will buy our meals for us, and sometimes it’s a pat on the back,” Woodruff said. “Erath County is great for law enforcement, they really, really are. We don’t have what you see in some of the other states where law enforcement is being chastised.”
Gambino encourages all who have to work on a holiday to not let a shift steal their holiday cheer.
“Chin up. Celebrate every day, and don’t get bogged down with dread about one day of the year,” Gambino said. “Make it extra special when you get to celebrate, and not a drag because you have to work.”
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